Media Gender & Globalization
Monday, 20 February 2012
Lost in Translation
The article by Youna Kim Experiencing Globalization –Global TV Reflexivity and the Lives of Young Korean Women explores the consumption of global images and television by this group of women. In the article Kim asks the question “In what ways does the existence of globalization alter the very texture of the lives of young Korean women?” To address this question, Kim specifically conducts ethnographic research of the young working class and middle class Korean women in their 20’s. Kim details the ways in which globalization of television influences and becomes a part of the way these young women make sense of their lives. Based on Kim’s research, by consuming global television images Korean women are able to identify with and imagine possibilities for their own lives through reflective self analysis. The article looks at how Korean women establish ideas of their lives and experiences relative to the lives of Western women. In some cases the women idealized the images of Western women and in other cases the Korean women seem to look more critically at how the images are not necessarily realistic or relevant to the experiences of Korean young women.
The discussion of globalization regarding media images and reflexivity is also relevant to images of women portrayed in popular reality television. Specifically, it is interesting to view how the role of “wife” is reflected in the “Real Housewives” series on the Bravo cable network. The “Real Housewives” series features women from six cities across the United States of a certain social class and affluence focused on the “problems” of maintaining their lives. Watching these shows provides an image of “housewife” constructed by lavish homes, expensive clothes, friends, parties and money. The shows seem to create a narrative of shallow materialism that is often stereotypically associated with western society and with wealth in general. By using the term “real” the show’s creators imply that these are genuine stories of American housewives, as opposed to highly edited sensationalized scenes of women behaving badly simply created to generate ratings. The fact that the Real Housewives series has expanded to international markets and several of these “wives” types shows appear on a number of cable networks is a clear indication of popularity. It is difficult to understand why so many women tune in, but the ideas of reflexivity that Kim presents regarding Korean women, may also be relevant to American women and other women consuming this reality show genre as well. Since many women who serve as housewives are actually managing their homes and the lives of their families, these shows may represent some type of fantasy for women. These shows also play into women’s yearning for freedom, social mobility and individualization that Kim refers to when speaking about the Korean women’s reaction to the perceived freedom of the western women they watch on television.
On the Real Housewives series, everyday occurrences such as a wedding or birth of a child are more about “over-the-top” opulence than the way that these events actually occur in the context of being a wife or a housewife. In these shows the women are rarely actually raising children or supporting their husbands in any way.
In some ways, the actual image and role of a housewife has been marginalized by their representation in these types of shows. Interestingly enough, the Real Housewives series began in 2006 during the meltdown in the global economy, yet they have thrived and expanded despite messages of extreme excess. The series has been so successful the participants have become celebrity and the format has been replicated in 6 cities across the United States with 4 international installments (Israel, Vancouver, Athens, Brazil) with several more in the works. Last year producers of the show decided to take this model of the overspending and opulent housewife to Athens, Greece during the worst financial crisis in the history of that country. With seemingly no regard for the environment in which the show would be broadcast, “Housewives” producers launched the show in March, 2011 and it was quickly cancelled after just six episodes. The show was ultimately removed from the air because of the images portrayed and the disregard for the environment in Greece. Perhaps, as with the Korean women who found images on Friends and other US syndicated television to be unrealistic, the Real Housewives message of greed and excess did not resonate with Greek audiences. The series is currently casting in several international locations including France.
The Real Housewives Invade France!
Selling American Mass Culture
In the essay Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch, McBride details ways in which this iconic American brand employs policies and practices that promote racism and discrimination. He believes that the image portrayed by the company is constructed in a calculated way that specifically aligns itself with White America. Although I don’t necessarily agree with the severity of the accusations in McBride’s piece, my visit to The Abercrombie & Fitch Store in Paris confirmed several of the ideas presented in the article. I think the store’s marketing strategy and practices seemed to be attempting to convey a uniquely white washed American brand.
The idea of typifying “whiteness” is evident throughout the store and specifically in the overwhelmingly large mural that spans the entire height of the store. The A&F mural includes images of men in various poses and forms in varying degrees of nudity. There is variety in sports that are depicted in the mural, however, there is not any variety in the race of the men represented—they are all white. Additionally, the sports represented are typically sports of privilege with more integrated sports of football and basketball conspicuously absent.
Although there was a Black male “go-go” dancer at the front door who was Black, the Abercrombie & Fitch “look” is clearly white, thin and young. The employees were very similarly dressed in A&F clothes and they would all espouse a typical American salutation “Hey, how’s it going?” Although once I tried to engage them in conversation beyond that phrase, no one seemed to have a grasp of English.
As an American woman in Paris checking out Abercrombie & Fitch I was struck by the way in which the French customers shopping in the Paris store seemed to be mesmerized by the space, the clothes and the “look.” Their fascination with the clothes , the A&F label and the “American” lifestyle that represents an exotic “other” may provide insight as to why French customers were willing to pay $75 for a cotton t-shirt. Maybe, it’s not about the clothes at all, but about the buying and selling of American mass culture.
Monday, 13 February 2012
Jungle Fever
This week’s reading of Gender and the Culture of Empire and the Musee d' Quay Branly's exhibit of The Invention of the Savage illustrate the ways in which the other is portrayed in an "exotic" and often erotic manner. This exotic and mysterious portrayal of colonized people provided a way for colonizers to demonize the natives and prove that “they are not like us.” Perhaps by depicting the maladies and the perceived deformities , colonizers were attempting to justify their occupation and exploitation of these other cultures and people.
The exhibit explored the carnival style portrayals of the men and women that were exploited and mistreated to satisfy curiosity regarding the “natives.” The idea of savage was created by the manipulation of images and side-shows. While watching the video footage, I continually wondered about the lingering affects this type of spectacle treatment has on a person or a race of people.
I was also intrigued by the fact that in the exhibit the women of color’s bodies seem to be fair game to be captured without any regard for modesty or respect. We rarely see Western women so scantily clad or depicted nude in their natural habitat, but it seems that exploiting the nude frames of these women provided a way to prove that they were “strange” and that their nudity without shame provided evidence to that effect.
The images in the films Shohat discusses serve as some of the first and only images of this exotic “other” that were seen by the Western world. Although the films Shohat discusses are fiction based films, it is clear, that the subtext of these films defines for Western viewer the qualities of these people that were from distant lands. Shohat’s description of the Birth of a Nation truly made me think about how so many of the messages and stereotypical performances in this film reflected the ideology of the Klu Klux klan, and provide a basis for radical racist beliefs to be furthered.
I am especially struck the spectacle of difference and how many of the films in Shohat’s piece make mention of the “jungle”. This mythical jungle serves as the backdrop for a great majority of these films which clearly sends the message of primitive and uncivilized.
As an example in Shohat’s piece she mentions Brazilian born actress Carmen Miranda. Miranda’s stereotypical Latin roles in Hollywood cast her as a scantily clad” chica chica –boom boom” chic or the Tutti Frutti Girl. Miranda’s films were set in some exotic place or a proverbial “jungle”—In the duet with the Western actor he actually refers to the jungle in his verse.
Lyrics | Carmen Miranda lyrics - Chica Chica Boom Chic lyrics
Watching this video I immediately think of African American performer Josephine Baker. Although Baker had enormous appeal in Paris and in France, clearly the fascination was less with her talent, but more of an interest in the exotic other. Baker’s banana dance which was performed as a part of the Danse sauvage, with Baker wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. As shown in the video this dance was performed for the French uniformed military man which clearly represents the colonizer. The scene is additionally set in a jungle and Baker is shown as primitive with breast bare to “entertain.”
Baker was also featured in the exhibit at the Muse De Branley as a representation of the ways in which the image of colonized islanders were depicted in film. Although both Miranda and Baker were seen as exotic and erotic “others” in cultures outside of their home culture, neither actress received roles that were essential to a narration and all roles were centered on the exotic qualities they both possessed.
In the article Exotic Puppets (Jane Nardal , Pantins exotiques, “La Depeche Africaine,1928), Nardal criticizes Baker and says that Baker’s performances reinforce French stereotypes of black people. Nardal went on to say that Baker’s primitive, exotic and sexual performances played into the sexual fantasies of the French men. Jane Nardal and her sister Paulette Nardal were intellectuals from the island of Martinique and among the architects of the Negritude movement. The Negritude movement, in France included Colony born blacks who organized to embrace their culture and to refute the racist treatment by the French. In the Baker Film “Princess Tam-Tam” Baker displays the “perpetual heat” that Sohat refers to in her article. By seductive primitive dance Baker is not only appealing to the fantasies of the white Frenchmen—she is apparently appalling to the white women who react quite differently to her performances.
Most African Americans think of Josephine Baker as an example of how the French loved black people during the time period between the two wars. Baker is lauded as an example of how race was not an issue in France. The examples illuminated in the exhibit which chronicles events through 1930’s demonstrate the ways in which race was being communicated in Franc paint a very different picture for me now. By deconstructing Josephine Baker’s actual performances including the costumes worn and the design of the set the stereotypes and primitive portrayals abound. Although the French enjoyed the entertainment of the Black Americans living in Paris, their fascination was more about the exotic other than it was about being “colorblind”. For me, this realization is quite difficult to comprehend and to accept. Viewing some of the footage from Josephine Baker’s performances and films along with clips from of the films mentioned in Shohat’s article makes me wonder what would be the motivation for directors and filmmakers to create entertainment with such clear political messages. Were both Josephine Baker and Carmen Miranda merely unsuspecting vehicles used to further the political agenda of the day and to create exotic images of the “other” that would justify oppressive and racist ideology?
The exhibit explored the carnival style portrayals of the men and women that were exploited and mistreated to satisfy curiosity regarding the “natives.” The idea of savage was created by the manipulation of images and side-shows. While watching the video footage, I continually wondered about the lingering affects this type of spectacle treatment has on a person or a race of people.
I was also intrigued by the fact that in the exhibit the women of color’s bodies seem to be fair game to be captured without any regard for modesty or respect. We rarely see Western women so scantily clad or depicted nude in their natural habitat, but it seems that exploiting the nude frames of these women provided a way to prove that they were “strange” and that their nudity without shame provided evidence to that effect.
The images in the films Shohat discusses serve as some of the first and only images of this exotic “other” that were seen by the Western world. Although the films Shohat discusses are fiction based films, it is clear, that the subtext of these films defines for Western viewer the qualities of these people that were from distant lands. Shohat’s description of the Birth of a Nation truly made me think about how so many of the messages and stereotypical performances in this film reflected the ideology of the Klu Klux klan, and provide a basis for radical racist beliefs to be furthered.
I am especially struck the spectacle of difference and how many of the films in Shohat’s piece make mention of the “jungle”. This mythical jungle serves as the backdrop for a great majority of these films which clearly sends the message of primitive and uncivilized.
As an example in Shohat’s piece she mentions Brazilian born actress Carmen Miranda. Miranda’s stereotypical Latin roles in Hollywood cast her as a scantily clad” chica chica –boom boom” chic or the Tutti Frutti Girl. Miranda’s films were set in some exotic place or a proverbial “jungle”—In the duet with the Western actor he actually refers to the jungle in his verse.
Lyrics | Carmen Miranda lyrics - Chica Chica Boom Chic lyrics
Watching this video I immediately think of African American performer Josephine Baker. Although Baker had enormous appeal in Paris and in France, clearly the fascination was less with her talent, but more of an interest in the exotic other. Baker’s banana dance which was performed as a part of the Danse sauvage, with Baker wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. As shown in the video this dance was performed for the French uniformed military man which clearly represents the colonizer. The scene is additionally set in a jungle and Baker is shown as primitive with breast bare to “entertain.”
Baker was also featured in the exhibit at the Muse De Branley as a representation of the ways in which the image of colonized islanders were depicted in film. Although both Miranda and Baker were seen as exotic and erotic “others” in cultures outside of their home culture, neither actress received roles that were essential to a narration and all roles were centered on the exotic qualities they both possessed.
In the article Exotic Puppets (Jane Nardal , Pantins exotiques, “La Depeche Africaine,1928), Nardal criticizes Baker and says that Baker’s performances reinforce French stereotypes of black people. Nardal went on to say that Baker’s primitive, exotic and sexual performances played into the sexual fantasies of the French men. Jane Nardal and her sister Paulette Nardal were intellectuals from the island of Martinique and among the architects of the Negritude movement. The Negritude movement, in France included Colony born blacks who organized to embrace their culture and to refute the racist treatment by the French. In the Baker Film “Princess Tam-Tam” Baker displays the “perpetual heat” that Sohat refers to in her article. By seductive primitive dance Baker is not only appealing to the fantasies of the white Frenchmen—she is apparently appalling to the white women who react quite differently to her performances.
Most African Americans think of Josephine Baker as an example of how the French loved black people during the time period between the two wars. Baker is lauded as an example of how race was not an issue in France. The examples illuminated in the exhibit which chronicles events through 1930’s demonstrate the ways in which race was being communicated in Franc paint a very different picture for me now. By deconstructing Josephine Baker’s actual performances including the costumes worn and the design of the set the stereotypes and primitive portrayals abound. Although the French enjoyed the entertainment of the Black Americans living in Paris, their fascination was more about the exotic other than it was about being “colorblind”. For me, this realization is quite difficult to comprehend and to accept. Viewing some of the footage from Josephine Baker’s performances and films along with clips from of the films mentioned in Shohat’s article makes me wonder what would be the motivation for directors and filmmakers to create entertainment with such clear political messages. Were both Josephine Baker and Carmen Miranda merely unsuspecting vehicles used to further the political agenda of the day and to create exotic images of the “other” that would justify oppressive and racist ideology?
Sunday, 5 February 2012
The Power in Looking
In Hooks essay "The Oppositional Gaze" she speaks of the African American woman as a spectator. This is a very personal writing in which Hooks speaks of the African American woman's ability to shape her own image by recapturing her looking experience. African Americans historically were not able to decide or determine where they would even look, and by daring to look or even stare the oppositional gaze is one of inquisition and discernment intended to change reality. There is power in looking. Hooks contends that gaining control of one’s own looking experience through resistance opens up the possibility of agency. In her essay Hooks specifically looks at the inaccurate depictions of African American women in cinema. It is Hooks contention that African American women have a different looking experience than Black men and that those differences are important and worthy of examination. Hooks states that conventional representations of black women have done violence to the image and have forced Black women spectators to either choose to identify or disconnect. In informal ways Hooks shares how she and the African American women, in her world, experience film or “look” at film and how they respond to their own cinematic images or lack thereof.
For me, this essay was very difficult to read and I feel even more challenged to write an adequate response. I feel a great deal of passion regarding the subject of African American women in film. However, I am also beginning to realize I have been repressing my own “oppositional gaze” in an attempt to just to enjoy media or to not feel angry all the time. This article has forced me to come to terms with my own “looking away.” As an African American woman my experiences as a spectator of films is quite complex. As noted by Hooks’ friends in the article, I attend Hollywood films with very low expectations of accurate or fair portrayals of the black woman’s experience. When I do look deeply I typically walk away feeling as if the multiplicity of experiences represented by me and a large majority of African American women is not only absent, but in a very real way, I feel-- invisible.
When watching television or viewing a film whether a Hollywood blockbuster or an African American produced film, the images of Black women are typically essentially the same. She is depicted as essentially an angry, disrespectful and out of control over-sexed, foul mouthed woman who couldn’t possibly be capable of cultivating higher-level interpersonal relationships. If we do see another representation she will always be pointed to as an oddity who somehow overcame all of the above.
Cathy Hughes, an African American pioneer in media ownership in the US and the Founder, CEO and President of TVOne television network spoke rather freely regarding this inaccurate depiction of African Americans in the post below—I was a actually struck by the candor with which she spoke.
Hughes brings up an interesting point in this comment. Should black owned media be held to a higher standard? When the stereotypes and negative images are created by black owned media and for a predominantly black audience is that an even greater issue? I must say that when I find that a film or other media has been written or produced by a black film maker my expectations are slightly heightened, however, in many cases the results are the same. It seems as though we have bought into the negative images of our experiences. Furthermore very many actors and directors have seemingly decided that participating in the perpetuation of these images is almost assuredly a way to have a lucrative , and highly awarded career. The black female filmmakers that Hooks mentions in her essay and few others including directors Robert Townsend , Queen Latifah, Gina Prince Blythewood and even Spike Lee have conscientiously made films that present a wider spectrum of the African American experience.
This essay truly made me stop and think my gaze as a black woman spectator additionally I needed come to terms with how my looking experience has very often hurt , disappointed and offended me. Like Hooks, I think it’s time that I challenge these images to better reflect the multiplicity of experiences of an African American women.
Television For Women...
Len Ang’s article examines the idea of media that is specifically created for an audience of a particular gender, specifically women. This article looks at how a feminine audience is defined and how media is created specifically for that audience. Ang goes on to describe the ways that soap operas and romance novels, two media that are typically directed toward female audiences are consumed differently by women in different demographic categories. Ang challenges that the study of female audiences has to go beyond just the ways in which these women might simplistically watch television programs or read a novel. As with some of the previous readings on the subject of gender and media, Ang positions the female audience as a complex group that should not be approached as a cohesive group or unit.
When considering the female audience and what is deemed to be women’s programming many simplistic generalities are typically applied. For example the About Us tab of US cable network created for women-- Lifetime Television’s, states the following:
Lifetime Networks is a diverse, multi-media company, committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming content that celebrates, entertains and supports women. Through its award-winning public affairs initiatives, the Company also advocates a wide range of issues affecting women and their families.
The expectation would be that a network like Lifetime would be innovative and entertaining and that it would provide programming that clearly speaks to the diverse multiplicity of the female audience. A look at the line-up of shows on the Lifetime Network or on the Lifetime Movie Network for any given day , tells a bit different story. The network’s line-up is a mixed bag of reality shows, sappy films in which women are typically victims throughout , and reruns of shows from other networks. There is one talk show format program entitled “The Balancing Act” which is suppose to help women balance family and career. What is glaringly missing from Lifetime is anything relating to world affairs, politics, race, sports, gender issues, financial or economic news. Apparently the executives of this network have decided that women do not want to be bothered with substance—they just want to cry their eyes out on a good chick-flick or live vicariously through others on reality shows. Adding some meat to this trivial programming would be a good first step in addressing the female audience. This type of trivial programming is not just a US issue, American media giant and former Lifetime Television parent company, Viacom has teamed up with Netherlands based Endemol to launch a new global network for women—Blink TV
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-endemol-partner-new-female-185863
The network launched earlier this year and based on a Google translation of the Polish site, the About Us section tells the female audience member exactly what she can hope to see---
Viacom Blink! Is the new face of entertainment for women! Without counseling and educational programs, but with an inexhaustible amount of inspirational entertainment! Comedy, drama, crime, documentaries, lifestyle and reality, fashion, kitchen, medical mysteries, and real human stories.
Unfortunately, this fluff programming that is deemed “women’s” programming doesn’t do much to further the agenda of post-modern feminism in the US or internationally. The assumption that women are only interested in light dramas, comedies and reality shows denies the very complex nature of the female audience.
For me, this essay was very difficult to read and I feel even more challenged to write an adequate response. I feel a great deal of passion regarding the subject of African American women in film. However, I am also beginning to realize I have been repressing my own “oppositional gaze” in an attempt to just to enjoy media or to not feel angry all the time. This article has forced me to come to terms with my own “looking away.” As an African American woman my experiences as a spectator of films is quite complex. As noted by Hooks’ friends in the article, I attend Hollywood films with very low expectations of accurate or fair portrayals of the black woman’s experience. When I do look deeply I typically walk away feeling as if the multiplicity of experiences represented by me and a large majority of African American women is not only absent, but in a very real way, I feel-- invisible.
When watching television or viewing a film whether a Hollywood blockbuster or an African American produced film, the images of Black women are typically essentially the same. She is depicted as essentially an angry, disrespectful and out of control over-sexed, foul mouthed woman who couldn’t possibly be capable of cultivating higher-level interpersonal relationships. If we do see another representation she will always be pointed to as an oddity who somehow overcame all of the above.
Cathy Hughes, an African American pioneer in media ownership in the US and the Founder, CEO and President of TVOne television network spoke rather freely regarding this inaccurate depiction of African Americans in the post below—I was a actually struck by the candor with which she spoke.
Hughes brings up an interesting point in this comment. Should black owned media be held to a higher standard? When the stereotypes and negative images are created by black owned media and for a predominantly black audience is that an even greater issue? I must say that when I find that a film or other media has been written or produced by a black film maker my expectations are slightly heightened, however, in many cases the results are the same. It seems as though we have bought into the negative images of our experiences. Furthermore very many actors and directors have seemingly decided that participating in the perpetuation of these images is almost assuredly a way to have a lucrative , and highly awarded career. The black female filmmakers that Hooks mentions in her essay and few others including directors Robert Townsend , Queen Latifah, Gina Prince Blythewood and even Spike Lee have conscientiously made films that present a wider spectrum of the African American experience.
This essay truly made me stop and think my gaze as a black woman spectator additionally I needed come to terms with how my looking experience has very often hurt , disappointed and offended me. Like Hooks, I think it’s time that I challenge these images to better reflect the multiplicity of experiences of an African American women.
Television For Women...
Len Ang’s article examines the idea of media that is specifically created for an audience of a particular gender, specifically women. This article looks at how a feminine audience is defined and how media is created specifically for that audience. Ang goes on to describe the ways that soap operas and romance novels, two media that are typically directed toward female audiences are consumed differently by women in different demographic categories. Ang challenges that the study of female audiences has to go beyond just the ways in which these women might simplistically watch television programs or read a novel. As with some of the previous readings on the subject of gender and media, Ang positions the female audience as a complex group that should not be approached as a cohesive group or unit.
When considering the female audience and what is deemed to be women’s programming many simplistic generalities are typically applied. For example the About Us tab of US cable network created for women-- Lifetime Television’s, states the following:
Lifetime Networks is a diverse, multi-media company, committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming content that celebrates, entertains and supports women. Through its award-winning public affairs initiatives, the Company also advocates a wide range of issues affecting women and their families.
The expectation would be that a network like Lifetime would be innovative and entertaining and that it would provide programming that clearly speaks to the diverse multiplicity of the female audience. A look at the line-up of shows on the Lifetime Network or on the Lifetime Movie Network for any given day , tells a bit different story. The network’s line-up is a mixed bag of reality shows, sappy films in which women are typically victims throughout , and reruns of shows from other networks. There is one talk show format program entitled “The Balancing Act” which is suppose to help women balance family and career. What is glaringly missing from Lifetime is anything relating to world affairs, politics, race, sports, gender issues, financial or economic news. Apparently the executives of this network have decided that women do not want to be bothered with substance—they just want to cry their eyes out on a good chick-flick or live vicariously through others on reality shows. Adding some meat to this trivial programming would be a good first step in addressing the female audience. This type of trivial programming is not just a US issue, American media giant and former Lifetime Television parent company, Viacom has teamed up with Netherlands based Endemol to launch a new global network for women—Blink TV
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-endemol-partner-new-female-185863
The network launched earlier this year and based on a Google translation of the Polish site, the About Us section tells the female audience member exactly what she can hope to see---
Viacom Blink! Is the new face of entertainment for women! Without counseling and educational programs, but with an inexhaustible amount of inspirational entertainment! Comedy, drama, crime, documentaries, lifestyle and reality, fashion, kitchen, medical mysteries, and real human stories.
Unfortunately, this fluff programming that is deemed “women’s” programming doesn’t do much to further the agenda of post-modern feminism in the US or internationally. The assumption that women are only interested in light dramas, comedies and reality shows denies the very complex nature of the female audience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)