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It’s on

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References

F., & L. (1970, January 01). An imperceptible difference: Visual and textual constructions of femininity in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women. Retrieved from https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/636

Carvalho, J. (2014, October 03). Sports Media is Still Racist Against Black Athletes. Retrieved from https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/4x987d/sports-media-is-still-racist-against-black-athletes

The 2016 Racial and Gender Report Card: College Sport. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nebula.wsimg.com/38d2d0480373afd027ca38308220711f?AccessKeyId=DAC3A56D8FB782449D2A&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

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Amy Hasinhoff

“Top Model offers the valuable commodity of superficial racial diversity while centering whiteness as the default unmarked race for US citizens. While models of color are praised for their exotic look, blonde-haired white models are referred to as “all-American.”(page. 333) There are multiple reasons as to why I selected this quote from Amy Hasinhoff’s “Fashioning Race for the Free Market on America's Next”. Firstly, it provides a brief yet perfectly appropriate summary of the purpose and point of her article. It also raises a very real issue in contemporary society, which is racial inequalities in representations of people in popular culture. This issue is apparent in many different forms of culture. Although Amy Hasinhoff is specifically referring to a reality show in analyzing, what she calls, “superficial racial diversity”,  we can observe these same problematic practices in almost all forms of media targeted to the masses. This is especially true in terms of marketing strategies.    

  Another contemporary example, aside from Hasinhoff’s,  that I find to be particularly relevant to this issue is the representation of football players in America. As the NFL is seemingly quite a diverse organization, consisting of mostly African American players, there is this sort of assumption of racial equality that shadows the organization. However, as Hasinhoff points out, the centering of whiteness is ever present in the “all-American” image. Football is known to be somewhat of a classic american and seemingly patriotic passed time. Even though the professional league is predominantly taken up by African American players, only 28% of the league being Caucasian (Richard Lapchick, page. 3), the representations of white and black players are quite different through the several media outlets available to the masses. Most quarterback in the NFL are white, Tom Brady being one of the most celebrated players in history and a white quarterback, and this is the type of player that is most idealized and fantasized about over the country. The team is structure to support the quarterback being the leader of the pack and the source of success, this is the same notion of having whiteness at the centre of the “all-American” dream. This is not to say that the African American players aren’t celebrated, or even celebrated as equally, rather it is to argue that they are celebrated for different reasons. They are praised for their brute athleticism and their success in supporting the role of the quarterback. This is not dissimilar to Hasinhoff depicting the models of colour being praised for their ability to be exotic look and the white models praised for the “all-American” look. The NFL reflects this superficial racial diversity expressed in Amy Hasinhoff’s article perfectly, but allows for a male perspective on racial stereotyping and imbalances in proper racial representation in popular culture.  

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Jeremy Packer

“Lee Willie ultimately realizes his Cadillac could also be a means of trapping the black man into believing he was free; free of economic exploitation, free of white power, and mistakenly-according to Alan Nadel-free to move about in white space.”(190).  

This quote in Jeremy Packer’s (insert Article name) really stood out for me for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it is a powerful piece about racial issues in society that are reflected through consumerism and popular culture products. This quote reveals the many issues regarding that are somewhat rooted in subliminal messages. It provides implicit examples of how contemporary society struggles with racism still. The concept of Lee Willie’s realization that the Cadillac being a means of faking freedom is also somewhat similar to Amy Hasinhoff’s notion of “superficial racial diversity”. Racism, especially in its presence in popular culture, is deeply rooted in underlying themes and implications, rather than overt racial slurs for example.

The world of professional sports has always seemed to have an ambiguous relationship with political issues, especially those regarding race. An example of how this concept of superficial equality is carried out in popular culture is seen in the protests of professional African American athletes. One of the most notable protests of racism in sports was Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, refusing to kneel during the national anthem. Below is a video of him explaining why he chose to protest on the field; 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0446tibig.

Now, this protest has said to be quite impactful, bringing awareness to sports fans across the country. At first, his protest was contested and extremely controversial, he would kneel alone throughout the anthem and eventually get punished by being taken out of the league in general; a technical firing. However, two years after his controversial protest began, Nike has now decided to pick him as the face of their newest campaign. This is believed to be in hopes of accrediting the NFL star for his work. Unfortunately, this does not actually mean change for anyone politically. Nike’s commodification of Kaepernick reflects the notion of the Cadillac being a vessel of superficial equality, as it sends a false message to the world that Kaepernick’s protest worked and things are being overcome. This is not to say that Kaepernick’s protest was ineffective completely, but rather the capitalist way in which he was brought on to an ad campaign diminishes the genuine fight for freedom.

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Stephen Harper

“consumers should not be despised as the "cultural dupes" of capitalist producers; consumers are instead "secondary producers," finding value in their consumption and making use of capitalist products for their own ends” (page 1). 

This quote really seems to encompass many of the messages communication students receive throughout their studies. Harper talks about consumers being “secondary producers” rather than cultural dupes to their own society. Essentially what he means by this is that consumers should not be regarded as passive acceptors to all that is thrown at them by capitalist producers. This notion extends further than just products, but content as well. The reason this quote stood out is due to the unyielding force of consumerism that is ever present in contemporary society. This is a concept especially familiar to communication scholars, as we are constantly being exposed to the way in which the dominant ideology spreads capitalists messages to the rest of society. Popular culture in its essence reflects these ideas and consumerist messages.

The “cultural dupes” in the world of professional sports could be seen in the fan base, the team’s audience. It could be argued that sports fans are passive consumers and acceptors of all the merchandise and content that that is thrown at them by the dominant forces that control the industry. However, the fanbase controls much more than it seems. Sports merchandise changes and evolves to match the wants of the consumer. This is also true for events, such as the MLB all-star game. This weekend of events includes a full 9 inning baseball game with all the players voted in by the fans, as well as a home run derby where favourited players compete for most home runs in the shortest amount of time. It could even be argued that the audience’s presence aids in the performance of the athletes, the atmosphere created by the fans could manipulate the attitude and ultimate performance of the team. Although, this thought somewhat differs from Jeremy Packer’s idea of “secondary producers” it does reflect his argument in showing that sports fans are not cultural dupes to their own surroundings. Instead, fanbases choose to buy the jerseys of the players they admire for their own reason, they choose to vote for certain players in special events, and they ultimately dictate the way in which professional sports organizations communicate and pander to their audience.

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Megan Condis

“an account of the princesses requires an intersectional approach with a perspective on how constructions of gender, race, and class intersect and dissolve in the play between the categories of the human and the animal” (page. 40)

Megan Condis’ piece was especially interesting as it brought to light some subliminal racial issues in Disney roles. Firstly, I chose this quote out of the entire article because i felt as though it really briefly summarizes the purpose of the article. It explains Megan Condis’ argument that the way in which Disney portrays animal sidekicks, as almost all Disney Princesses have, actually brings forth issues of gender, race, and class. Some white princess’s sidekick are somewhat happy little slaves at the princess’ disposal and princesses of other races have sidekick that are more on their social level.

This piece got me thinking of how minor comparisons can have such an impact on the framework and perception of certain personas. For example, Marshawn Lynch is a former wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team. He coined the term “beast mode”, this was in reference to his utter power and dominance on the football field. He referred to his performance to that of a beast because it was not comparable to a human’s, it was better. However, even though the term was coined by the athlete himself, it still holds certain connotations regarding the issues that Condis talked about. Many racists in sports exploit African American athletes as having brute athletic force beyond capable of a white man. This refers to black athletes as inhuman. Sports media has been criticized for constantly insinuating that “White athletes are smart, hardworking, team players. Black athletes are freaks and beasts who get by on their natural gifts as opposed to their work ethic, which perpetuates the broader stereotype of black people as lazy.”(Sports Media is Still Racist Against Black Athletes). This comparison to a “beast” brings forth the exact issues that are reflected in the way in which Disney portrays their princesses’ sidekicks. Framework is extremely important and these implicit examples show that conceptions of race can be seriously affected by slight comparisons.  

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Janice Radway

“institution of marriage or with male intolerance precisely because it demonstrates that a woman like the heroine can admit the truth of the feminist discovery that women are intelligent and independent and yet continue to be protected paternally by a man” (pages 72 & 73).

“a woman like the heroine can admit the truth of the feminist discovery that women are intelligent and independent and yet continue to be protected paternally by a man”( page 72 & 73).

Example: Janice Radway’s piece about women’s indulgence in romance novels was quite interesting, especially if it is read with the concept of marketing in mind. As we live in a consumerist society, it is important to understand most indulgences through the lens of purposeful marketing. Although her article is quite dated, the study taking place in the 1980’s, there were many aspects that could be easily transferable to contemporary society.  The quote I chose from Radway’s article provides a perfect example of a seemingly dated concept (needing to be paternally protected by a man) that is actually quite relevant in today’s society. However, it may not exactly mirror the same picture that Radway described.

The world of sports is dominated by male athletes, franchise owners, coaches, managers, and other professional roles. Although we do see more and more females in the realm of professional sports, their representation is much different than that of the males in the industry. For example, in sports journalism and media there are both men and women covering the events. However, the men are brought on as experts, often former male athletes will come on as commentators, and the women are put in the same role but are seemingly always sexualized. This is similar to the concept of women being “intelligent and independent” as Radway describes, yet a male is always “needed”. A study about the representation of women in sports-related media, such as sports illustrated magazine, by Janet S. Fink and Linda Jean Kensicki found “that women continue to be underrepresented, portrayed in traditionally feminine sports, or shown in non-sport-related scenery in both media outlets. Within the pages of media explicitly focused on women's issues within sports, successful female athletes continue to be constructed in stereotypical and traditional conceptions of femininity that supercede their athletic ability”(pg.1). Sports Illustrated Magazine is a perfect contemporary example of the battle between independence and male “protection” reflected in this excerpt from Janice Radway’s piece. Although male “protection” is not what is the issue, rather it is the requirement of male presence in sports-related media to maintain the validity of the journalism. Since sports have historically been centralized around males and athleticism has been more or less of a masculine trait, the emergence of females in the field have struggled to hold independence in their professional roles.