"Wild Ones": A Feminist Reading

So, I listen to pop music. There, I admit it! I've been listening to it since I was 13, back when Britney Spears was first becoming popular and *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys were all the rage. While Britney's lyrics weren't all that surprising then (or now), I feel like lyrics have gotten even more demeaning towards women. I'm just going to look at one song that's ridiculously popular on the radio these days: Flo Rida's "Wild Ones"


These are spoken by Flo himself:
"I like em untamed, don't tell me how pain"

This lyric is overwhelmingly negative and portrays a women's expression of her sexuality as threatening (Chris Brown, I'm looking at you) The untamed, wild woman needs to be tamed and the song concludes that later:


"I am a wild one
Break me in
Saddle me up and lets begin
I am a wild one
Tame me now
Running with wolves
And i'm on the prowl"


 When an animal is tamed (ie. breaking a horse), they are taught to be submissive and obedient, which is apparently the type of woman that is desired in the end. Sexual expression is just another phase in a woman's life before she is "tamed" by a man and under his control for the rest of her life. The sad thing is that a woman is singing these lyrics in a sultry, "come-hither" voice. Her "taming" becomes eroticized and encourages the sexual and emotional domination of women by men.


-Jenny

Love Philosophy, but Where's my Feminism?

So, a feminist philosophy professor came in to teach my Ancient/Medieval class about female philosophers and why they weren't included in the list of canonical philosophers. She didn't want to argue whether or not these women were in fact philosophers, but wanted to create a dialogue between the "legitimate" philosophers and the "illegitimate" philosophers in order to expand our notion of WHO and HOW a philospher comes to be a philosopher.

I thought it was a great idea and have often wondered, as a philosophy major, where all the women are! I figured that the lack of opportunities (given that women were generally restricted to domestic spaces) was to blames. However, that shouldn't have stopped them from writing letters. In fact, many philosophers either wrote nothing (Socrates) or had their philosophy "formalized" from letters to books (Sartre).

Overall, the discussion was fruitful and I was happy to learn of philosophers like Periktone and Theano. However, I couldn't help leaving feeling angry at some of the ideas/propositions expressed. For example, the philosopher asserted that one of these female philosophers had the same ideas earlier about the tripartite soul and that Plato plaigirized this philosopher. She mentioned that there is distinct evidence proving that Plato did in fact read the earlier female philospher's treatise, but I find this hard to believe and would like to see the evidence in order to decide for myself. Overall, I felt like the talk was a little destructive about the study of philosophy. She mentioned that other disciplines included notable works by people of color and women and that philosophy was lagging far behind. I felt like the underlying message was philosophy should change NOW to include female philosophers or we shouldn't keep studying it. However, I firmly believe that whether ideas are articulated by a man or woman makes no difference to the validity of an argument. In other words, we should read and consider these women not BECAUSE they are women, but instead BECAUSE they offer a unique take or argument on certain issues. I also feel like she demanded change to happen too fast. A discipline does NOT change overnight or from the publication of one book. It takes a group of dedicated academics publisihing MULTIPLE arguments and convincing MULTITUDES of other professors to include these female philosophers in their curriculum.

Outrage over India Vogue

So, I typed in India Vogue and found a most offensive article featuring Indians, who were clearly destitute, modeling exorbitantly priced bags, umbrellas and bibs. The New York Times article first gave quotes of someone denouncing the ad, then a rebuttal from the Vogue India editor and then it went on to give information about the rising middle and upper class in India. The last portion took up most of the article. Instead of exploring the deeper issue of class inequality, the New York Times focused on the capitalistic endeavors of these high fashion companies. Well, the article IS in the business section, so I guess it should explore these capitalistic endeavors. What I would have liked to see is this article somewhere else with a deeper analysis of not only the pictures, but the cover of the magazine in which these pictures were included. Why is the cover in ENGLISH if it is VOGUE INDIA? Who is this magazine really targeting? Why is a white woman scrunched between two Indians? What does that say about the position of "whiteness" in India? Why are these women almost being used as "background images?"

Jezebell, a feminist site, answered my questions in their two seperate analysises on both the magazine cover and the pictures (http://jezebel.com/5044233/vogue-india-puts-fendi-bib-on-impoverished-child-critics-freak & http://jezebel.com/gossip/emerging-markets/vogue-india-debuts-with-australian-blonde-on-front-bleeding-heart-inside-313729.php). Why are Fendi bags being put on destitute people? Because fashion is about exclusivity. There needs to be a "lower" in order for one to be "better." Why is the white person in the middle? Because whiteness = priveledge. Why is the magazine in English? Because English = priviledge.

Man Faces Federal Charges in a Sex Ring in Minnesota

And now for some local news.

Liquing Liu, a Chinese national, started a sex ring here in Minnesota. He would move around to avoid detection with his 100 Asian women.

These women were illegal immigrants and are being treated as crime victims not criminals, according to Sgt. Grant Snyder of the Minneapolis Police Department. The women were probably lured under the prospect of having a better life in America.

However, once here they were confined to the place of business and had to give most of their earnings to Liu.

This reminds me of the Korean comfort women issue during World War II. These women were often forced to become sex workers because of Japan's occupation in Korea. They, like these recent prostitutes, were usually paid nothing while having to endure squalid work conditions.

I just can't believe that this man, who probably knew poverty first hand, would deliberately deceive others in a similar situation.

I wish the article would have gotten a quote from him as to why he did it just so people could see how twisted his ethics are.

The article can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/us/17brothel.html

What do your Facebook activities say about YOU?

Enough to attract dozens of research groups across the country, apparently.

One research group on the East Coast is studying how personal tastes, habits and values affect the formation of social relationships.

Another team at Penn State studied how individuals reacted to another person's friends count on Facebook. They found that people with many friends were perceived as popular, attractive and self confident. However, people with TOO many friends (800+) are seen as insecure.

But how accurate is the sampling on Facebook? Researchers are delving into that topic too. According to Eszter Hargittai, Facebook is popular among white, Asian, and Asian-American people, while MySpace is more popular for Hispanic students.

One Harvard team studies Facebook profiles of many students without their permission, which has sparked a debate about the ethical issues surrounding Facebook research. The laws in place currently allow the study of human subjects in a public setting, but whether Facebook is public domain or not is debateable.

I don't like the fact that potential job recruiters or anyone else can see my profile. I feel like because of this, many people are putting their Facebooks on "friends only," which doesn't open them to new people as much.

My Facebook is set to the Chicago network, but unless the person has a different connection to me, they can't see my profile unless they friend me. This is one of the safeguards in the system, but judging by this article, many people don't seem to use the security options available.

Is studying people's profiles without their permission ethical? Is Facebook really a viable research tool in studying social relationships?

The rest of the article can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/style/17facebook.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India

We've discussed how photos function in a story and how more and more articles are being accompained by video.

Sometimes, photos inspire stories, like NYT's front page story "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India". The article is about the terrible working conditions of manhole cover makers in India. The article uses pictures to show the process.

Shirtless boys are shown carrying carrying molten metal that reached temperatures of 2552 degrees Fahrenheit. Another picture shows a shirtless boy in the foreground dripping with sweat while more shirtless boys surrounded a melting pot with sparks flying. Another picture shows a boy near a water pipe and another man sitting by two rows of manholes.

I really felt the heat and saw the conditions through these pictures. They really did make the story and were what drew me to the article.

Check out the rest of the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/nyregion/26manhole.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

‘Seaweed’ Clothing Has None, Tests Show

Another novelty article that I found amusing.

Lululemon Athletica is famous for using unique materials in its workout clothing. These materials include bamboo, silver, charcoal, coconut and soybeans.

One of its lines, VitaSea, claims that its products are made of seaweed. However, through a series of tests, it has been discovered that there is not actually any seaweed in the clothing.

The article briefly mentioned the duplicity in advertising. I would have liked to see this issue explored in greater depth, as opposed to the 2 lines the articles devoted to it.

The article then went into the financial history of the company. Within this section, it did include a quote from Deanne Schweitzer, Lululemon’s director for products and design, about investigating the seaweed shirt issue.

However, as with all business articles, I am left disappointed. =\

The article only cited one person's opinion of the faulty claim of the company. I would have liked to see more opinions, but given that the article was in the business section, I knew that wouldn't be its focus.

The full article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/business/14seaweed.html?pagewanted=2