Colorblind racism?

The projects that stuck in my head the most were Monday's presentations on colorblind racism. I was very bother by the idea that someone had created and coined the term "colorblind" racism. For starters, racism can never be colorblind. I recall be very upset listening to the presenters discuss this ridiculous term. Unpacking this, I asked myself why are you really upset? When someone  says they are colorblind (I understand now that neither of the presenters were saying this) I take that personally because as a person of color then what are they saying about my experiences as a person of color? Lets face it, the " we live in a post-racial America" is a myth. I think Travyon Martin, Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and the many more who have lost their lives proves that. I deal with a lot of micro-aggressions through out the year, and many of these micro-aggressions come from people who claim they are colorblind.

People say they are colorblind because they don't want to deal with or talk about racism. This is a privileged in itself. Some people are privileged to ignore racism and say that it does not exist. Others have to live through it. Colorblind racism is very problematic, and minimizing race in a situation that is racial does more harm than good. Below are few images that I think does a good job summing up colorblind racism.

Racial politics in online dating

The Eastern Asian presentation, inspired me to look online race statistic for myself. Primarily because I was fairly annoyed by the racial dating statistics posted by OkCupid. According to those statistics no one wants to date a black woman...not even a black man. As a black woman, I was very bothered by these statistics. In fact, at first I refused to accept them as true. However, I believe that the reason why black women are viewed as "unwanted" is primarily due to the stereotypes associated with black women. Black women are perceived as "loud, obnoxious, uneducated/ghetto, bossy/demanding, in your face (pushy) and the list goes on. Interestingly enough though, Asian women received the most replies, but then again what stereotypes are associated with them? Submissive, china dolls, very quiet etc etc. This got me thinking that online dating is not based off physical appearances, but perhaps it is based off gender roles and perceived attitudes. Black women seem like the least likely to be submissive in a relationship, and seem like they have the worst attitudes. Although this is not true, I do think this plays into the reason why Black women are the least likely to get a date in an online space.

Periods,and boobs

About two weeks ago, I learnt about this photographer named Rupi Kaur who posted a photographer to IG with a woman lying in bed with a period stain. IG deleted the image twice because it was deemed as inappropriate. At first, I was bothered by the idea that this woman would in fact want to capture a photo of her bloody stained behind and bed. As someone who also gets a monthly visit I just didn't understand the reason for posting. However, as I think more about the image, and the portrayal of women in the media, that in a way the media has painted a single story for womanhood. This reminds me of Chimamanda Ngozi's tedtalk the danger's of a single story. Now, grant the media actually has a few story lines for women such as the slut, good girl gone bad, the ugly fat chick, the superwoman, the nice girl who is too nice,  etc etc etc. This is not the single story I am referring too. When it comes to learning about how the female body works in the media, we only look at it at a sexual view. Women can be photographed in their underwear as long as they are selling sex--which is very ironic considering that society at-large does not appreciate or perhaps even value sexually liberated women. Nonetheless, the media is okay with selling the single story of objectifying women. Women are taught to feel embarrassed about something that is so natural. Periods are a fact of life. Yet,  many girls and women still believe a tampon can take her their own virginities because periods are seen as too taboo to discuss them.

Then there are the nipples. Women are taught to cover them up. Some girls, depending on their age, are embarrassed about their boobies. This might be because they are too big, and may cause them to look "sluttish" and bring them unwarranted attention. Others may be embarrassed because they are not big enough, and may cause them to look "boyish". What ever the reason, the idea of women celebrating her boobs seems taboo. Yet, men can "celebrate" (which is really them objectifying their boys, celebrated is said sarcastically) a woman's boobs and nipples, and that is just him being a boy. And take for example the breast cancer campaign Save the Boobs. Save the Boobs is suppose to end the battle against breast cancer, but what are people more concerned with? Saving the boobs or saving the woman with breast cancer?

This is just some food for your thought. In honor of creating more story lines of the female body in a non-sexually objectified way I've posted some images that I found on Google (plus some of  Rupi's work). If you are offended by these photos then oh well. This is real life, and the real experiences of many women.

Reed Chapter 7

In this week’s reading, Reed dives into the world of video games where he analyzes the effects video games has on culture. He discusses the blurred vision effect—blurring the lines between reality and fiction—that video games can create for people especially… for the youth.  I do agree with Reed that there is a lot of violence in video games. With that being said, both children and adults should play these games in moderation especially children. I think the real problem lays in the fact that there is a lack of education (for the players) of what is actually going on in the video games. For example, many people who play grand theft auto enjoy it because of the violence, but they are not unpacking the type of violence they are being exposed to in the game. Grand theft auto, like many other videos games, allow their players to be violent towards women while simultaneously sexually objectify them. So what happens when the lines become blurred? This is my point about people not being educated about the games they are playing. When lines are blurred people apply video game life to reality. What makes things worse is that violence against women occurs without the help of video games. So if anything, video games have the potential to support the idea that sexually objectifying women and physically harming them is okay. Video games are not the only materials that can potentially do this, music videos can also have the same effect. I think a good study would be to analyze the effects of excessive playing of violent video games has on children who come from abusive homes. Check out this video of violence against women in the gaming world.

The Egyptian Revolution

What is a social justice movement without passion? What is a social justice movement without perceived in justice? Nothing. In order for a civil rights movement or some other form of social justice movement to occur, two things need to happen. First, a perceived injustice needs to take place meaning people need a reason to fight for something. Are they fighting for gender equality? Free speech? Are they protesting minimum? The reason to fight can also be due to government control. Next, people need to be emotional engaged and invested in the fight. Content people do not start rallies. Content people do not start revolutions. They have no reason too. Social movements are very much emotionally driven like the 25 January Revolution. In today's modern society, social media has the power to play a vital role in rallies. On page 54 of the reading, the author discusses how one of the "most prominent initiatives was the network create around the Facebook group "we are Khaled Said". This Facebook group brought attention to police brutality (one of the many injustices the protesters in Egypt were fighting about) in Egypt. Khaled was beaten to death by police in June 2010 after he distributed a video exposing police corruption. The use of social media in this case united over thousands of Egyptians and foreigners from across the world to stand up for justice together. Although the history and inspiration to start a rally or protest comes from pre-social media days, the use of social media today not only helps brings attention to the situation, but they inspire others (as mentioned earlier) to be involved. Social media has become a platform for people to speak out. The following examples are just a few examples of how the presence of social media advanced these campaigns by bringing national attention to them. Even if the outcome at the end was not desirable, it still illustrates how power social networks can be to unite people and raise awareness in social justice movements/campaigns.

A Manifesto For Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s

Prior to this week's lesson and this week's reading I have never heard of the term "cyborg". For me, this was all new information. I have seen on TV, and have personally met individuals with prosthetic legs and even arms, but I never considered them a cyborg (but then why would I? This is a new term for me). By definition of this reading, I suppose that people with prosthetic body parts would be considered a cyborg because one could not function fully without the other. However, it is still odd or rather uncomfortable for me to refer to another human as a cyborg or view them as having a partly cyborg identity. If I analyze this reading solely focusing on dualism or binaries I can understand the concept of a cyborg a little bit more when removed from a science fiction context. Frankly this reading was very hard for me to unpack. I am not really sure what to think about the authors ideas, and I feel like I am all over the place! One thing I will note that I thought was interesting is that Haraway references Chela Sandoval, and says that Sandoval "emphasizes the lack of essential criterion for identifying who is a woman of color" (p.14). Haraway provides this example to illustrate Sandoval's perspective "a Chicana or U.S. black woman has not been able to speak as a woman or as a black person or as a Chicano. Thus, she was at the bottom of a cascade of negative identities left out of even the privilege oppressed authorial categories called "women and blacks," who claimed to make important revolutions" (14). I partly agree with this. Yes, I agree that U.S. black women and Chicanas often times have muted voices. What I do not agree with is that there is a lack of essential criterion for identify who is a woman of color. If anything this is only valid for women who are to fair skinned and thus get mistaken as for as white women. I think largely the criterion is based on complexion, then perhaps features such as eyes and nose,etc hair, and even language. I grew up with the understanding that everyone was a person of color with the exception of white people. Now this could be completely inaccurate, but this is a belief that many people have grown up believing, and this belief has a criterion supporting it.

It's my revolution learning to see the mixed blood

Many of the remarks made by the author Arola can also be applied to other races/ethnicities, but with less legality applied to it. For example, to be considered Latino, Asian, or Black, I do believe that non-members and members of a particular racial group have to perceive you as belonging. Characteristics include language/accent, features, skin tone, hair etc. It is rather interesting to say the least how much power other people have to decide which racial category another person belongs in. The way you look and sound matters when it comes to classifying people into racial categories within the US.

Arola talks about the 1/4 drop of Indian blood (although rules vary by individual tribes) generally makes you an Indian. This made me think about the one drop rule. The one drop rule was a way to classify person of African descent. One drop of black blood is typically suppose to make any person in the United States a black person. However, the one drop rule (in my opinion) has been proven to be an invalid system in determining who is and who is not black in the US. The reason is because of what Arola touches on in her paper. People, non members and members, have to identify you as belonging. When I was in high school, there was a girl with white pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Many people thought she was white. She at least looked it to say the least. However, this girl's father was half black (which he looked). Although she was less than a quarter black, because she had noticeably black cousins, a grandparent, and other relatives that she grew up around, it was always important for this girl (she's a woman now) to tell people that she indeed was black. According to the one drop rule, she was right. Yet, people outside of her family normally did not accept her as black because she looked white. She would tell people she was mixed and no one would believe her. Even after some had met her father, they still would not allow the girl to call herself black. Although the Indian situation is different, there is still this idea that blood percentage and looks combined determine whether or not you can call yourself Indian or Black.

Arola also brings up the idea that our real identities are linked to our online identities. To some extent this is very true. However, this is only true if someone is allowed to be their real selves online. For me example, my online identity is very much linked to my real identity. Although, I don't share very sensitive, personal, and delicate information about myself via online I am still authentic self with my Facebook friends, twitter followers, and Instagram followers. But this is because I was given the space to do it. Others, aren't able to share their real identities online, and for some it is the other way around. Although Arola believes that online identity is not a custom it can be. Some people use the virtual world to escape reality. In situations like that, when people feel like they are their truest self online, then wouldn't that mean they are wearing a custom daily in their real lives? In a sense, people are content moderators of their own lives. We have to pick and choose what we share, but we have to feel safe sharing the information. It is very much possible for our non virtual lives to be distinctly different from our online lives. This all depends on the platform or outlet we are given by others.

The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed Wired

For this week I read The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed WIRED. This article was about contracted content moderators, and what their job entails. While I was reading this article, all I could say was "WOW". I immediately begin to think about the numerous of inappropriate content that I see on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter daily. If people abroad and within the United States are constantly monitoring what types of content people see everday, then I couldn't even phantom the amount of inappropriate content that I would see on my social media sites without their patrolling. As it is now, I think I am already overly exposed to inappropriate content as it is, so again I couldn't even imagine.

Unpacking: The author of this article brings up the concept of the Grandma Problem which is the reason why companies hire content moderators. The Grandma Problem seeks to essentially protect our grandparents from being exposed from inappropriate content. According to the author, “Now that grandparents routinely use services like Facebook to connect with their kids and grandkids, they are potentially exposed to the Internet’s panoply of jerks, racists, creeps, criminals, and bullies. They won’t continue to log on if they find their family photos sandwiched between a gruesome Russian highway accident and a hardcore porn video. Social media’s growth into a multibillion-dollar industry, and its lasting mainstream appeal, has depended in larger part on companies’ ability to police the borders of their user-generated content—to ensure that Grandma never has to see images like the one Baybayan just nuked.” Now this paragraph seemingly sounds innocent. It can be easily read without much thought being put into. “Oh look we want to protect our grandparents from indecent material online, how sweet!” However, it is important to note whose grandparents were deemed as needing the protection. Although race/ethnicity/nationality may not seem like a factor in this paragraph it actually is. This becomes even more apparent when you continue to read the article. Filipinos and Filipinas who do the same content moderation job in the Philippines as Americans do in the United States are only paid $314-$500 a month. Yet, the American moderators are paid about $20 an hour, and sometimes even more. Also, the American moderators see this job as a last resort, and have a few perks that come with the job (i.e. being able to watch what they want on the other screen, and counseling options although they don’t know how to access them). The Filipino and Filipina workers do not have any of these perks, and I would bet all my money that they work much longer hours than the American workers do. Not to mention, this job is in high demand in the Philippines which means they are more susceptible to abuse in this job field because they are easily replaceable. So, whose grandma are we really protecting then? If Filipino and Filipina workers aren’t being protected in the workforce then I think it may be very reasonable to conclude that companies aren’t looking to protect their grandparents. Also, it may be reasonable to conclude that their grandparents are also some of the content moderators, whereas in the United States the content moderators are typically recent college graduates.

The Grandma Problem is about protecting white Grandparents. In fact, most laws and policies in the United States were created to protect the white population. This may sound like a stretch but it really is not. In my last post, I brought up how blacks and Latinos children and adolescents are the biggest consumers of social media. In regards to social networks, grandparents would actually be only a minority of users. Most grandparents are not using social media sites to keep in contact with their family members, and yet the reason why companies feel the need to hire content moderators in the first place is to protect those who do not have a huge presence on social media. Why not protect our biggest users? That's because the biggest users are low-income kids of color. In this case, the minority has a much bigger voice and is of more concern because money plus whiteness talks and matters in this world.  

The Haves and Have Nots report

For this week I read, Falling Through The Net: A Survey of the “Have Nots” in Rural and Urban America. This essay is a report on a research that was conducted pertaining to universal service. According to the researchers, universal service is “the idea that all Americans should have access to affordable telephone services”. However, the researchers ended up expanding universal services to mean more than just telephone penetration. Starting in the 70’s there was an evolution of personal computers being purchased in the home beginning with Intel 4004.  By the 90’s (and that is when this study was conducted), that evolution of personal computers and the need for them was increasing (not at the same speed though as in the 00’s). In the 90’s personal computers included Microsoft Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Netscape, and the iMac. Ergo, the researchers in this study extended their definition of universal service to accommodate the trends of society: “The robust growth recently experienced in Internet usages illustrates this promise as new and individual subscribers gravitate to on-line services. This suggests a need to go beyond the traditional focus on telephone penetration as the barometer of this nation’s progress toward universal service” (3).

This essay reminded me of the conversation we had in class regarding the digital divide. From this research there are empirical evidence that supports the idea (or perhaps the fact) that there is a racial/ ethnic difference between those who are more information advantaged than those who are more information disadvantaged. Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians in urban areas have a much lower computer penetration in their homes than Whites do. However, it is very interesting to note the time period. This study was conducted in the 90’s, and therefore was very true for that time period. However, a study conducted by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation—formally known as the Kaiser study—reported that Black and Latino youth media usage is exceptionally higher than White youth. In the Kaiser report, Black and Latino youth were much more likely to own an electronic device. Ironically, these children also had parents who either did not finish high school or who only have a high school diploma or a GED. This report was conducted in 2005. I wonder how great the digital divide is today in 2015 within the United States because in have and have not study, the researchers said “generally, the less that one is educated, the lower the level of telephone, computer, and computer-household modem penetration” (4).  Yet, it seems to me that no matter a youth’s race, socioeconomic background, or their parents’ educational attainment, many of them own some type of electronic device, have a computer home, and all (if not the majority) are active on social media sites.

I also wanted to quickly discuss some comments made by the researchers in the report. They (the researchers) noted that “regarding usages of on-line services, minority groups surpassed Whites in percentage of: classified ad searcher..” (5) and again they note “low-income, minority, young, and less educated computer households in rural areas and central cities appear to be likely engage actively in searching classified ads for employment, taking educational classes, and accessing government reports, on-line via modem” (4). I wonder if they (the researchers) took out the time to consider that for many “low-income, minority, young, and less educated individuals” the computer served as an opportunity to potentially advance their lives. Especially for individuals living in rural areas who unlike city people, did not have access to as much opportunities. For many middle to upper class White people, the computer could be more of a leisure activity.

The other comment I wanted to address was the one in the Race and Origin section: “according to the U.S. Census Bureau, race is defined as a concept used by individuals as a self-identification of “biological stock” (7).  This is not necessarily true. Race is a social construct that was created by the dominant culture to identify other groups of people while also creating a hierarchy. U.S. Census Bureau uses an identification “identifier” that was defined by one group of people.  Then they tell people that this classification is how they should identify, and so they do. This is problematic. Let’s examine Black for example. Black is a race, but Black would also be an umbrella term that would cover many different black ethnicities that are not shown as an options on the Census. Instead the Census uses Black and African American synonymously which is very incorrect. An African American is Black, but a Black person may not necessarily be African American. What about Afro-Latinos—who, by the way, are the largest population of Black people outside of Africa? Many people aren’t even aware that Latin American had way more slaves than America, and that slavery in Brazil ended much later than in the United States. Yet many people believe that outside of Africa, America is where all the black people are. Also, sometimes the census will say African or African American which again is incorrect. Black Americans are referred to as African American because they cannot pinpoint the country that they came from. But to name all people from the continent of Africa as African is ignoring their heritage and culture. There is no African culture. There is a Nigerian culture, a Moroccan culture etc, but there is no one (mono) African culture. Africa is the most diverse continent in the world, and yet it is the only continent that is referred to as a country. Going back to my original point, the U.S. Census Bureau does not list race and ethnicity the way a group of people identify themselves. Instead, race and ethnicity are listed the way the dominant culture identities people. 

Chapter 1: Cybertyping and the work of race in the age of digital reproduction

Nakamura L. explores and critically analyzes the role of race and racialism on the internet. Nakamura has “coined the term cybertype to describe distinctive ways that the Internet propagates, disseminates, and commodifies images of race and racism” (3). She believes that “the study of racial cybertpes brings together the cultural layer and the computer layer” (3). Prior to taking this class, I do not think I’ve ever truly considered the manner in which race is articulated online—especially since I am a frequent user of social media sites such as Facebook where race is can be easily determined based off of pictures, post, and comments (or at least most of the time). What I really thought was interesting was the concept of fluid identity.  The idea behind fluid identity is that are online presence (identity) is not fixed meaning we have the power or control to create different identities and be whoever we please. Essentially, in the virtual world this is a way to “eliminate” stereotypes, but we are really creating a monoculture. One that doesn’t recognize the complex issues that are associated with race. In class our professor talked about the comment her friend’s daughter made about marrying her son even though he is black. Recalling back to that discussing and then reading this chapter, it made me really analyze how people (now a days) are truly trying to sweep race under the rug to create a Utopia. Reading this chapter, helped me consider how this sweeping takes place even in the virtual world. 

Blog Post 1: Reed

Chapter One:

The world is becoming increasingly more digitized. Our lives are affected by this even in the most trivial and minimal ways. In Reed’s book Digitized Lives: Culture, Power, and Social Change in the Internet Era, Reed examines the relationship between digital technology and its influences on modern society. In Chapter one, Reed dissects the terminology used while also explaining to his readers that he will be injecting his experiences and biases in the chapter. He refuses to be neutral on certain issues and topics and as a reader I can appreciate that. Relating this to Wednesday’s class, Reed’s book will require his readers to employ rhetorical listening in order to formulate an adequate comprehension of Reed’s message. I think it is easy to shoot some of his ideas down especially if you are reading this novel with a fixed mindset.