Popular Culture essay

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The Social Construction of "Race" As our discussions have revealed over the past few weeks, negative or stereotypical representation in media

has real consequences. Such representations not only reflect but also reinforce the marginality of minority

groups. Thus, it follows that the political empowerment of subordinate groups in society--such as women,

youth, people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, the poor--depends in part on changing the way these

groups are represented.

How can we think about the issues of representation and empowerment in relation to racial minorities? First,

we need to gain a better understanding of the social construction of racial and ethnic identity.

Ethnicity 'Ethnicity' and 'race' are linked but distinct categories. Ethnicity is a broad social category that addresses

one’s perceived membership in a larger group based on an attachment to an actual or possible homeland, its

cultural heritage, belief system, political history, language, myths, customs, manners, food, literature, sport, art

or architectural style. Ethnic affiliations are acknowledged and parodied in films such as My Big Fat Greek

Wedding and Mambo Italiano. Like race, the concept of ethnicity has been used to discriminate against

groups based on stereotypical perceptions of their common attitudes or attributes.

Race Race is a constructed category that is widely used to distinguish among various groups of human beings

based on inherited biological or physical characteristics (such as skin colour or facial features). Although

seemingly a neutral descriptive tool, race has functioned historically as a way to draw spurious connections

between specific physical characteristics and the possession of certain behavioural traits assumed to be

shared by all members of the race. Biological definitions of race are often falsely linked to mental

characteristics or used to justify social inequalities. The idea of race is therefore inseparable from the

discriminatory attitude and practices of racism.

Where Do Racial Hierarchies Come From? We have not “always” believed that people break down into distinct racial categories. During the “Age of

Exploration,” as Western explorers came in contact with people from new worlds, Western “intellectuals” began

devising the “race” concept. It became widely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as the West

sought to justify its colonial and imperial expansion.

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Social Evolutionism and the Construction of Race The theory of social evolution describes the evolution of society as one of increasing complexity from a state

of relative simplicity to a state of increasing complexity through differentiation and specialization--from Primitive

to Modern. According to this theory, Western cultures fit into the definition of "complexity" as they introduced

industrialization through science and technology into society such that it lead to increasing division of labour,

the growth of cities, urbanization, etc.

Herbert Spencer At the same time (early 1900’s) a functionalist-type theory was developed by a British Sociologist named

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) that "scientifically" established a hierarchy of races and their potential for social

advancement. Like other functionalists, Spencer advocated differentiation and integration as the means by

which societies develop and modernize. He saw society as an organism that through societal evolution grew to

varying degrees of complexity. However, for Spencer the driving mechanism behind societal evolution is

competitive struggle. He compared human societies to animal species and argued that they develop through a

competition for resources where the strongest survive. Spencer himself coined the phrase "survival of the

fittest."

Spencer made the connection between society and race by theorizing that so-called simpler societies reflect

simpler races, i.e. that non-western societies that do not show a potential for science, rationality, or industry

(features of western modernization) are lower on the evolutionary ladder. Spencer did not conside r that

societies develop differently and not always in the same direction.

His theory came at a time of global expansion where many non-western cultures were being encountered and

hence were being studied by anthropologists, who used western standards to evaluate many cultures.

Racial Hierarchy Out of social evolutionism came a racial hierarchy that situated the white race at the top because of their

complex societies and simpler societies beneath them in a ranking order. This hierarchy confirmed the

"natural" order of things where whites because of their supposed "evolutionary supremacy" were considered

naturally endowed for dominance. Spencer’s theory acquired much acceptance by scientists and colonizers

alike and informed everything from race policies such as segregation to immigration policy up to the 1960s in

most western countries. For example, Australia only ended its “white only” immigration policy in the late 1960s,

just about the same time that First Nations people in Canada were first permitted to vote in federal elections.

"Types and Development of Man," a poster exhibited at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, reflected the era's

widespread enthusiasm for the concept of racial hierarchies. It was part of an emerging discourse arguing that

humankind could be ranked on the basis of race and nationality.

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Forms of Racism Racism takes on a number of forms, among them:

(1) v iole nt assault

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(2) institutionalize d racism (exercised, for example, through poor provision in education, healthcare,

housing, and/or discrimination and unequal pay in the workplace)

(3) The e xpre ssion of “common se nse ” attitude s base d on une xamine d and pre judice d

assumptions (even of the kind that appear to make a positive statement, as in “blacks are good dancers”).

Forms of popular culture, such as sitcoms and stand-up comics, play a role in reinforcing such taken-for-

granted attitudes by naturalizing or making them permissible.

(4) Cultural racism (which ignores that racial inequality is not a product of centuries of white supremacist

ideology; instead, it assumes that racial suffering is a product of a racial minority group's own subculture)

Reading

Read "Arabs and Muslims in the Media after 9/11: Representational Strategies for a 'Postrace'

Era" by Evelyn Alsultany.

In this article, the author refers to another form of racism, one in which the United States uses

sympathetic portrayals of Arabs and Muslims on television and in Hollywood films in order to make

the country seem progressive and non-racist. Note the use of scare quotes around "Postrace" in

the article's title.

"Positive representations of Arabs and Muslims," Alsultany writes, "have helped form a new kind of

racism, one that projects antiracism and multiculturalism on the surface but simultaneously

produces the logics and affects necessary to legitimize racist policies and practices. It is no longer

the case that the otheris explicitly demonized to justify war or injustice. Now the other is portrayed

sympathetically in order to project the United States as an enlightened country that has entered a

postrace era" (162).

What does Alsultany mean? Do you agree with her argument?

The Perils of Ignoring Institutionalized Racism In our culture, when we talk about racism, we usually focus on individual acts of racism (e.g. when a white

person commits a racist act or makes a racist statement). We tend to ignore institutionalized racism, which

cannot be conceived as an individual act.

According to Henry Giroux and Susan Searls Giroux, this is a problem because "When the conditions that

produce racist exclusions--paid for in the hard currency of hard suffering--are rendered invisible . . . politics

and social responsibility dissolve either into privatized guilt (one feels bad and helpless) or disdain (victims

become responsible for their own plight)" (Popping Culture, Pearson, 168).

When it comes to institutionalized racism, Giroux and Giroux note, we must pay attention to

the dramatic impact of racism on individuals and families marginalized by class and color,

particularly the incarceration of extraordinary numbers of young black and brown male prisoners

and the growth of the prison-industrial complex; a spiraling health crisis that excludes large

numbers of minorities from health insurance or adequate medical care; crumbling city

infrastructures; segregated housing; soaring unemployment among youth of color; exorbitant

school drop-out rates among black and Latino youth coupled with the realities of failing schools

more generally; and deepening inequalities of incomes and wealth between blacks and whites.

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Cultural Racism in the Case of Trayvon Martin Shortly after the jury announced its verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, U.S. President Barack Obama

gave an impromptu speech, in which he said that “Trayvon Martin could've been me, 35 years ago." And yet .

. . several conservative members of the media attacked Obama for his remarks. In their attacks, Fox News

hosts Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity perpetuated cultural racism. As Salon columnist Joan Walsh put it,

An unusually crazed, agitated O’Reilly declared that the plight of black America “has nothing to

do with slavery. It has everything to do with you Hollywood people and you derelict parents…

Race hustlers and the grievance industry,” he went on, “have intimidated the so-called

‘conversation,’ turning any v alid criticism of African-Ame rican culture into charge s of

racial bias,” leaving African-Americans to “fend for themselves in violent neighborhoods.” I can’t

wait to hear the ignorant O’Reilly generalize more about “African American culture.”

. . .

Sean Hannity may be the worst of all, using the president’s saying he could have been Trayvon

Martin 35 years ago to smear both Martin and Obama with drug charges. “Is that the president

admitting that I guess because what, he was part of the Choom Gang and he smoke d pot

and he did a little blow — I’m not sure how to interpret because we know that Trayvon had

been smoking pot that night.”

Incredibly, a case in which a young, unarmed teenager was fatally shot by a stalker became an opportunity for

commentators to reinforce prejudicial stereotypes of African-American men. A columnist at The National

Review shared with his (white) readers the advice his father once gave him: “When you go to San Francisco,

be careful if a group of black youths approaches you.”

Whiteness as Invisible Non-identity Until recently, in countries such as Canada, the U.S., and Australia, where the majority of the invader and

settler populations has been European-descended, whiteness has been defined implicitly as an invisible non-

identity. In other words, the dominance of whiteness has gone unexamined because it is not named as such.

Not mentioning a distinguishing characteristic like whiteness implies that it is just ordinary, the norm. As a

result, non-whiteness is framed in this binary opposition as difference/deviation from the norm.

Consider, for instance, why book publishers would use the image of a white person in order to market a

novel featuring a black character. Or why several Hunger Games fans would take to Twitter to complain that

the film adaptation cast black actors in the roles of Rue and Thresh. In these cases, being "white" is seen as

an invisible non-identity (i.e. as "normal"), whereas "non-whiteness" is visible and a basic part of one's social

identity.

"Eating the Other" In "Eating the Other," the influential social theorist bell hooks argues that representations of racial Otherness

(i.e. non-whiteness) "sustain a romantic fantasy of the 'primitive' and the concrete search for a real primitive

paradise" (370).

In the article, hooks describes dominant white attitudes toward whiteness and non-whiteness. What does it

mean to be white? What does it mean to be non-white? According to the mainstream media, whiteness is

bland and boring. In contrast, as hooks writes, "non-white people [seem to have] more life experience, [are]

more worldly, sensual, and sexual because they [are] different” (368). These claims about whiteness and non-

whiteness are myths; i.e. they are cultural constructions. Popular culture, however, presents them as natural

facts. Moreover, it encourages white people to overcome their blandness by engaging with “the Other,” who

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are “Other” on account of their racialized social positions.

Referring to a group of white men whom she overhead discussing their sexual conquests with non-white

women, hooks writes,

Getting a bit of the Other, in this case engaging in sexual encounters with non-white females, was

considered a ritual of transcendence, a movement out into a world of difference that would

transform, an acceptable rite of passage. The direct objective was not simply to sexually possess

the Other; it was to be changed in some way by the encounter. (368)

According to hooks, this mindset marks a break from the racism that has resulted in violence and

discrimination acted upon blacks. Nevertheless, it treats blacks as objects, not as subjects, and makes “black

culture and black life backdrop, scenery for narratives that essentially focus on white people” (374).

Consider, for instance, the following images from the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue:

A critique of these images is not intended to single out the editors, photographers, or models, nor is to imply

that they have acted out of malice. We are instead concerned with problematic media trends, in this case the

pervasiveness of "eating the other."

As you examine these photos, bear in mind why hooks sees "eating the other" as a problem:

When race and ethnicity become commodified as resources for pleasure, the culture of specific

groups, as well as the bodies of individuals, can be seen as constituting an alternative

playground where members of dominating races, genders, sexual practices affirm their power-

over in intimate relations with the Other. (367)

At the feminist blog Jezebel, Dodai Stewart critiques the SI images taken in Namibia (the top two images).

"Africa has long been portrayed as a place of uncivilized, primitive people," she writes, "despite the fact that it

is a very diverse continent with an epic diaspora and considered the birthplace of civilization. From Morocco to

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Côte d'Ivoire to Ethiopia to Egypt and Nigeria, no one African country is like another. But these shots tap into

the West's past obsession/fetishization with so-called savages, jungle comics and the like. Again: In a visit to

seven continents, this image is what Sports Illustrated is using to represent the continent of Africa. A model

holding a fucking spear."

The photographs of Kate Upton in Australia,

however, had "no people-props," Stewart

notes. "Australians probably aren't exotic

enough? The photo shoots done in the

Bahamas and Chile had no people-props

either. In Antartica, Kate Upton was joined by

penguins. Black man, Chinese man, penguins."

Discussion

Watch the video for "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus:

Then read "Miley Cyrus Needs to Take an African American Studies Class," an interview with Akil

Houston by Wilbert L. Cooper. Do you agree with Houston's observation that the video "continues

a long tradition of what bell hooks might refer to as 'eating the other'"?

Popular Culture and Representations of Race White perspectives are dominant in the media

in terms of both political representation (who

owns and is making media content) and

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symbolic representation (who is shown in

positive or negative roles on film and TV

screens). Racialized groups are either

mostly ignored or stereotyped, for example, as

the Black criminal, the Latin Lover, the Asian

kung fu master or the sinister Arab. The

existence of genres helps to perpetuate these

stereotypes.

Reading

Read "Teaching Resistance: The Racial Politics of Mass Media" by bell hooks.

A few caveats to note as you read: (1) bell hooks published this chapter (an excerpt from her book

Killing Rage) in 1995. At the time of her writing, as she notes, there were no studies that had

looked "at the role mass media have played since 1960 in perpetuating and maintaining the

values of white supremacy" or of studies that "have examined the role television has played in

teaching white viewers that racism no longer exists." Although a number of such studies have

since been undertaken, her writings remain central to the study of popular culture and highly

relevant to contemporary debates surrounding media representation and racism. (2) At the time of

her writing, only Hattie McDaniel and Sidney Poitier had won Oscars for lead acting, and that

Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, and Halle Berry have since won Oscars for their

leading roles. (3) hooks acknowledges that there are many films that do challenge racist

assumptions. Her point is that these films tend to be marginalized and overshadowed by

mainstream fare.

Pay attention to how her argument relates to the point raised earlier that, in our culture, we tend to

ignore institutionalized racism:

By socializing white and black citizens in the United States to think of racism in

personal terms, individuals could think of it as having more to do with inherent

prejudicial feelings than with a consciously mapped-out strategy of domination that

was systematically maintained. (108)

Discussion

Take a look at Complex Gaming's "The 10 Most Racist Video Games." Do you agree with critics

such as Kotaku's Evan Narcisse (recommended reading, not required) who say that video games

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too often rely on black stereotypes? Narcisse notes that video games rely heavily on such

stereotypes as the "hot-tempered thug rapper," "loud black soldiers who only know how to yell,"

and "spear-carrying primitives."

Genre As a term, genre goes back to earliest cinema and was seen as a way of organizing films according to type.

With the impact in the late 1800s of new technologies, which made popular entertainment more accessible,

the need arose to classify mass culture when targeting different audiences. The term is now used to

categorize film, TV shows, video games, music, literature, etc.

Genre is more than mere generic cataloguing. It does not refer just to a film or TV type but to spectator

expectation and hypothesis (speculation about how the film will end). Genres also act as vehicles for stars. But

stars, too, act as vehicles for genres. We recall the genre and the star, and we expect certain roles and are

usually gratified (e.g. Whoopi Goldberg or Chris Rock in comedies, Jet Li or Jackie Chan in kung fu films,

Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis in action films).

Discussion

Take a close look at the April 2008 cover of Vogue magazine featuring basketball star Lebron

James and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

Do you agree with critics such as ESPN's

Jemele Hill (recommended reading, not

required) that the cover falls into a long history

of presenting "black athletes . . . as angry,

overly aggressive and overly sexual"? Consider

similarities between the Vogue cover and movie

posters like King Kong.

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Please Note

In "Teaching Resistance: The Racial Politics of Mass Media," bell hooks describes a number of

narrative strategies that serve to conceal the realities of racial oppression. These

include integrationist representational strategies and affirmationist representational

strategies. While these strategies are positive insofar as they tend to avoid overt stereotypes, they

nevertheless imply, false ly, that we have moved into a post-racial society.

Integrationist

Representational

Strategies These strategies, embodied in films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), serve metaphorically to invite blacks into mainstream white society on the strength of the reassuring message that "they" are "just like" us. This strategy has been used less often in relation to representation of gays and lesbians and people with a disability.

Affirmationist Representational Strategies These strategies use essentialist black identities stereotypes, to challenge the mainstream.

Blaxploitation films are an example. More recent versions of this strategy, such as that embodied

in the 1980s TV series The Cosby Show, represent blacks succeeding in white society through

their own efforts, but in a way that plays down the history and ongoing reality of discrimination, as

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well as a politics of resistance. A related genre is the biracial buddy film (examples include Pulp

Fiction, Lethal Weapon 1, 2, 3 & 4, White Men Can't Jump, and The Shawshank Redemption).

These films reinforce the binary opposition of whiteness and blackness--making it seem as if a

person's identity cannot in any way transcend his or her racial identity. On a more positive note,

they also highlight the possibility of overcoming racial barriers through individual tolerance,

understanding and sometimes humour

Video

Watch Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity (2010), available on reserve and via

streaming video. (Backup link here.) Throughout the documentary, the talking heads express

conflicting attitudes towards hip-hop and the racial identities associated with it. What opinions do

you agree/disagree with most? Why?