Racism Today

Most Americans believe and witness an existing racism today still. The interesting thing is that most people who are asked if they are a racist in someway, will deny any accusations and consider themselves not racist. In a CNN poll, only one out of eight of either race, consider themselves racist. A University of Connecticut professor who has been studying racism for over 30 years, estimates that 80% of white Americans have racist feelings they are not aware of.

"Contemporary racism is not conscious, and it is not accompanied by dislike, so it gets expressed in indirect, subtle ways," he said.

On the question of how many blacks dislike whites, 33 percent of blacks said "all" or "many," while 38 percent of whites agreed, not a significant difference statistically because of the poll's 5 percent margin of error.

It is my belief that different cultures and different colors of people who walk the earth make this a colorful and interesting place. Who wants a bunch of robots walking around that looks and acts the same? I believe respect should be renewed concept for everyone.

D&G gay vague commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_c7pwZv5UQ

This commercial leads the watcher to believe a straight couple is late to see each other when at the end of the commercial, we see a woman kissing another woman and a man kissing another man. While looking through the comments of viewers, I found it interesting what one had to say:


****I wish the bigots could take a close look at the ad for just one second before jumping on their homophobic horse. This commercial has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Each of the four "couples" kissing is just one person and a mirror image of themselves. No one is gay - it's regarding narcisism and using it as an advertising technique.And even if it did happen to feature 2 men kissing, who'd give a fuck? No one should even ask why. Nobody looks up when straight couples****


This comment is highly defensive! If in fact, it is a mirror image, it is DEFINITELY a gay vague advertisement; something Dolce and Gabanna are known for doing with their advertisements.

Gay Advertisement

I found a very interesting article on gay-coded advertisement, and it even mentions Abercrombie and Fitch advertisement like we had talked about in class.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1688446

It talks about marketers directing their advertisement in a "pro-gay" sort of way. Such as Abercrombie and Fitch, they have muscular men running around with their shirts off and touching the other models in the advertisement. Although this is a depiction of what real men are fantasized to be doing in real life,(haha...not really) it is extremely attractive to the gay community. It's near soft-core porn! I think advertising agencies need to be extremely careful because while it attracts SOME people, others will be completely turned off and won't want to buy the product. It's like a Hooters commercial, it will definitely attract SOME to the restaurant, but a lot of people will not appreciate it and will choose other restaurants over that one. Sex sells, and whether it be the gay community or straight community, marketers need to be careful of what they're really doing.

Advertisement

It is amazing what people can do now with advertisements. People of all ages, both male and female open magazines to perfect faces; no moles, freckles or blemishes. Perfect bodies grace the covers. Large breasts, small waists, or muscles and tanned skin are all part of the game we must win. This is what we set our standards to be for ourselves. I have had several opportunities to understand that what we see in magazines are completely unrealistic. These are pictures of me for the Miss Texas pageant 2008. Not one blemish, freckle, or scar. Not real. I have a lot of pictures where I am completely photoshopped. It's just crazy that this is the norm to do to people in pictures. I wonder what the world would be like if we put real people, untouched in magazines. I wonder how it would change our way of thinking.

The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority

"The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority" is a very interesting article from Ronald Takaki. I believe that every one has different stereotypes, but I also think that it's impossible for any race not to be resentful of one another, rather it be whites and African-Americans, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, or whites and Asian-Americans. People treat their ethnicity as if it's a competition. I don't imagine anyone, no matter their race, wants to live in poverty or have a job they don't like. There are whites that live in extreme poverty, there are whites who are extremely wealthy. There are African-Americans who are extremely poor, and there are African-American's who are extremely wealthy. There are Asian-Americans who live in the slums, and there are Asian-Americans who live in the richest of places.  Just because there is a part of a race who are living fortunately, how does that give a right for anyone to hate? Does everyone just want the whole world to live in a trash hole to make everyone feel equal? That is ludicrous! Just because someone is less-fortunate, does not give a legitimate excuse to join gangs or hang out in pool halls all day. Sometimes it's a choice. Every race is filled with those who make good choices, and there are some who make bad ones. Not every good person will live extravagantly...but that's life! Life is rough and hard, and pointing fingers at those who are better off than others will do zero good or make any situation less difficult. If the relationship between Asian-Americans and African-Americans are exacerbated due to the celebration of Asian-Americans as a "model minority" perpetuating their inequality, then there are deeper problems to be looked at. 

Interesting culture

Mrs. Lambiase informed the class that there are 8.8 million gay/lesbians in the United States. Gay teens are 2-3x more likely to committ suicide. From the Project Runway video on designing for drag queens, it was funny and definitely provided entertainment. But it was crazy to me that these men called themselves women. My own opinion is that if a person is white, black, brown, pink, blue, polkdotted, or gay...you're still a person, with a heart and feelings and wants and needs. I have worked with many gay people, and they have been some of the most giving and sweetest people I have ever met, but I still don't agree with the lifestyle. I continue to learn how crazy this world really is! What we find entertaining, what we find acceptable, what we find fun and harmless. It's all very interesting and I look forward to learning more about this culture we call home.

Women in Media

This class has been very interesting for me because I have never realized how desensitized I am to the media. There has never been a time that I have flipped through a magazine or turned on the T.V., and not seen a woman being used for something whether it be to sell a product or listen to a certain type of music. It is absolutely insane! The example Mrs. Lambiase used about walking through New York City and seeing the gigantic poster of a naked woman with only shoes on is so true! We don't even notice or care anymore. To me, it is honestly very sad. People have lost respect for themselves and others. I looked through a magazine for BCBG and here are my following findings:

Out of the 13 pages, 9 were body shots displaying bare thighs and heavy cleavage, 1 displayed only legs in a short skirt, and the other 2 were seductive headshots.

It is completely true that we live in a sex-craving society, where most anything goes and sex sells.