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The Culture of Hiking in LA Incorporating Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing)

The average American spends 93% of their time indoors, according the Environmental Protection Agency. By 2020, 66% of the world’s population is projected to live in cities. In Los Angeles County, the population is projected to grow to 11.6 million in 2020, according the Department of Parks and Recreation County of Los Angeles. In Japan, most of the population lives in highly urbanized areas, like Tokyo and Osaka. Most people who stay in the city experience too much stress. A cultural medicine to decompress is to take a bullet train to the countryside to relax. In Japan, they practice Shinrin-yoku forest bathing.

Shirin in Japanese means forest, yoku is bath. Shinrin yoku is taking in nature through our 5 senses. It was developed by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982 as preventive medicine for health problems associated with city living. There are 44 accredited Shinrin-Yoku forests in Japan. Forest bathing is covered by insurance because it is integrated into their medical system. There are scientifically proven health benefits. In 2015, Stanford University found that people who walked in nature showed decreased activity in the part of the brain associated with stress, anxiety and depression. Empirical data has concluded that forest bathing can increase human NK activity which boosts the immune system. By breathing in the forest air, it increases the number of natural killer cells after forest bathing.

“It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell & touch. Shinrin yoku is like the bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world.” Dr. Qing Li

In East Meets West, connecting with nature using the concept of shinrin yoku in Los Angeles is feasible by hiking. Hiking in LA can be done alone but is usually a group activity. It’s a social activity shared by Angelinos of all ages and their pets. Unlike in Japan where they completely disconnect from technology, it is unrealistic to be without our devices for safety reasons. Age & weight isn’t a factor. You can go at your own pace.

My favorite trails are Turnbull Canyon in Whittier, Griffith Park and Schabarum Park in Rowland Heights. If you need more information where to find hiking trails in LA, I have linked them for you below. There are 368 hiking trails in the County of Los Angeles making it accessible for different hiking abilities. According to the Department of Parks and Recreation County of Los Angeles, there are “a combination of 18 state parks, state recreational areas, and state historical parks, which include miles of existing and historic trails and roads for recreational use and more than 20 million visitors each year enjoy Los Angeles County’s recreation.

Be ready to experience the health benefits by viewing nature. Benefits include reduced anxiety, reduced stress, shorter hospital stays, lower heart rate and increased directed attention. “Health benefits of hiking: Raise your heart rate and your mood” published by Harvard Health, references Shinren yoku, stating “spending time in green space — nature preserves, woodlands, and even urban parks — may ease people’s stress levels. Giving the growing consensus that stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease risk, anything you can do to mitigate stress is likely helpful.” In addition, a study concluded the potential outcomes from hiking is fun, enjoyment of life and warm relationships with other due to the social component of the experience as meaningful. 

According to the American Society of Hiking, the benefits of hiking include “decreases the risk for colon cancer, diabetes, helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helps to relieve the pain of arthritis; reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression; and is associated with fewer hospitalizations and physician visits.” Nature sounds have been used therapeutically to relieve stress and perceived restoration and attention recovery have shown positive reactions to birdsong. 91% of Americans cite enjoyment of quiet and natural sounds as a reason to visit national parks and 72% believe that a reason to protect national parks is to preserve the natural quiet and nature sounds. Touch is crucial to love and social bonding. Contact is very important for humans. Feeling the wind on your face is a way to feel nature.

My advice for going for a hike is to plan accordingly. Most trails are only open from sunrise to sunset. Parking is a challenge. Wear sunscreen, sunglasses, hats because there’s not a lot shade on the trails. Bring water. If you have allergies, take Claratin. Bring Muscle Recovery for after the hike so you won’t feel sore after. Wear trail running shoes or hiking boots. Your body heats up during the hike, so bring a towel to wipe off sweat. Most trails do not have on site restroom facilities, be prepared to bring paper towels in case you need to go Amazon style.

When you’re on the trail, yield to bikers and horses. Respect the wildlife. It’s their home & we’re only visiting. Wildlife to be seen are snakes, rabbits, lizards, mountain lions, coyotes, bears, and deer. Proper hiking etiquette is to greet passing hikers on the trail. Remember not to liter or play music too loudly. Most hikers will be willing to take a picture of you and your group. It’s proper etiquette to take a mini photoshoot of them with their group.

Shinrin yoku forest bathing will help Angelinos destress from city living as our population increases. Now that you are aware of how much time Americans spend indoors and live a sedentary life which will lead to future health problems. I encourage all of you to take a hike and explore the many trails of LA County while incorporating Shinrin yoku forest bathing. Take the time to go out with your friends or family and to strengthen those the bonds.

https://www.alltrails.com/ https://www.traillink.com/activity/hiking-trails/ https://socalhiker.net/trails/los-angeles-hiking-trails/ https://trails.lacounty.gov/Mobile/

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Intimacy

The movie Her is trying to show how love has evolved in the 21st century through the increased use technology and social media sites. This movie represents love in a digital age where we can have a strong and deep connection without physically seeing them in person. Jonze uses montage to illustrate how lonely Theodore Twombly is as he transitions between scenes. Jonze shows fragments of Theodore’s marriage and how that is the life that Theodore desires. This movie’s main themes are loneliness, disconnection between people in our modern society as technology makes things easier and love ending and beginning. The connection that Theodore develops for Samantha still lacks the human interaction he had with his ex-wife Laura, shown by montages throughout the movie. The video games and virtual reality  represent the emptiness he’s trying to replace while going through his divorce.

Pettman touches on the how the most ‘human’ of experiences – intimacy or love – is increasingly being mediated by the technologies that link one agent to another” in references to the story of men in dating the AI. These men still get the erotic charge and psychological impact that their ‘girlfriend’ found in a virtual libidinal economy. As in the game Serendipity, Theodore picks out features he wants in his iOS 1 system to use as a way to deal with his loneliness and hurt from his divorce. Pettman states “melancholy itself is a technology: a coping mechanism for a pre-emptive loss, or always incomplete possession.” 

Mangani: Love Messaging states, “text messaging is as a mode of love messaging.” We communicate with family and friends via text message. The design for text message was intended for business purposes. In the movie, Her, Theodore uses AI technology in a manner that was not intended. He chose an improper way to use tools such as creating a love with Samantha. His selfness is shown in designing Samantha by excluding things that don’t fit his ideal. This is his need to have complete control over the situation because it’s not a real person. In this way, he determines the conditions of love according to his standards. You see this displayed when he is on the date and rejected by another woman. His idea of at this stage of his post-break up feelings are still rooted in his need of affection as self-driving. 

Mangani explains a concept of ‘hyper-coordination’ which describes expressive and emotional ‘coordination or uses of the mobile phone. Samantha and Theodore display this use of hyper-coordination in their communication. Example rules of courtship include a goodnight text, a good morning text.  “The text message has a capacity to transcend, or at least extend our sense of time and space, which in this simple example ‘comes to mean more than merely an exchange of words, but becomes an offering of commitment to the relationship.” 

The ending of his relationship with his ex-wife is holding him from seeking to move forward. He uses Samantha as a way to cope. Her display of affection can be compared to the use of tanka. Her short messages appear and bring him feel some type of way. “Tanka is short form poetry, comprised of 31 characters (usually with a regular structure of 5-7-5-7-7 characters)” The comparison between these 2 is require the discipline of composing short texts to be exchanged with an intimate other. 

Theodore was able to confide in his friend Amy. She was able to be supportive of him dating the iOS system since she was going through her own divorce. It took a machine to get him to open up which is really interesting. It’s easier to speak our truths online to strangers that to voice them aloud to our own love ones. He was his the reason why his ex-wife left him. And in discussing who he is seeing, the montages still show his desires of wanting his wife to conform to his wants. 

The disconnection in the physical space everyone’s synched into their devices can be seen through everyone walking with their phones in their hands. Theodore tried to escape into video games instead of work because his job was to write love messages for other people. As Pettman writes how these Japanese men are hurt by the rejection of their AI systems. We can see how the growth of Samantha changes the blockage that has kept him in this state of disconnect. This revelation helped bring him to accepting the reality that in life loneliness must be overcome in order to move forward to where we want to be. As Samantha and Theodore’s relationship start to break down, Theodore moves closer to Amy. In writing his letter to Catherine, he found closure to that relationship. He is now able to move onto being a better man than he was before by realizing that it was his fault in the ending of the relationship. He can begin to build the kind of relationship with Amy that he desires. He is now more open to communication from his time with Samantha. As with any long-lasting relationship, with Amy, he shares a friendship and mutual respect towards her. He is supportive and interested in her work which is what any great relationship needs. 

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Social Movements

Social movements have different levels of range from local to global. Social movements are groups working towards making a social or political change. The social movement I chose is based on a local level that has a regional reach. It is a local movement affecting California State University’s 23 campuses and 8 off-campus centers individually. It’s regional reach affects the State of California. CSU is the nation’s largest four-year public university system.This social movement is a resistance movement to prevent Governor Jerry Brown from raising the California State University tuition for the upcoming school year 2018-2019 in an upcoming vote in May 2018. 

In a tweet, Jerry Brown acknowledges that CA is the 6th largest economy in the world and the most prosperous state in America. #Facts Jerry Brown had the money to reinvest in education but is choosing to save it for a rainy day. CSU graduates since 1961have nearly 3 million alumni who have received their bachelors, masters, doctoral degrees. These graduates hold more than 150,000 jobs within the state. Currently, CA Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2017 is $2.751 trillion. Graduates from CSU directly impact the state GDP. CSU predicts 500,000 more graduates by 2025.

This social movement uses the prognostic framing that offers a solution and states how it would be implemented. Instead, with this proposed tuition increase it’s a disservice to Californians who would increase the state’s GDP in sectors such as, agriculture, information technology, business, hospitality, life sciences, healthcare, public administration, education, media and entertainment, that are part of the CSU programs. 95% of enrolled students are domestic students from CA who stay in CA after graduating. More than half of the student population are students of color and 49% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. 80% of students receive financial aid. $11,160 is the average amount of financial aid for a school year. $425 billion in financial aid was distributed to students. According to the CSU website, “For every $1 the state invests in the CSU, the CSU returns $5.43” There are 478,640 students attending CSU today and 50,800 faculty and staff are employed.

According to the Daily Titan, “The purpose of the march was to ask Brown for more CSU funding … state support per student in the CSU system has declined, according to the 2018-19 CSU budget. Following the governor’s conference, CFA (California Faculty Association) said the sum was not sufficient and proposed a counter increase of $422.6 million.” The protest was being organized by the Students for Quality Education (SQE) and California Faculty Association (CFA).They included in their caption information regarding free transportation covered by the California Faculty Association (CFA). 

The motivational framing on this social movement was seen during the protest. Motivational framing is the call to action after the prognostic frame. On April 4, 2018, over 1,000 students and faculty started their protest at 6:30 a.m. outside of the Governor’s Mansion with tape covering their mouth. The tape was removed once it was 7 a.m. to comply with noise ordinances. Students held an Art Walk and Protest to advocate for themselves. Local Teamsters, Sacramento residents joined in the student’s protest. The protest was scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m in remembrance of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. My classmate, Brittney Goss, skipped our Economics 315 Exam 2 to go protest. She made Fox News 40 Sacramento news coverage, “Everyone I know works one or two jobs. I personally work 50 hours a week to just support myself,” said Brittany Goss, a student at California State Fullerton.”

The coalescence stage of a social movement, on social media took place prior to the protest. On the local level, strong ties are leveraging their social network to promote change and spread information. Student clubs from CSUF were creating awareness and a call of action to students to engage in real life action by participation. Using Instagram, @ASICSUF posted information about the upcoming protest taking place on April 4, 2018 at the State Capitol in Sacramento. 

A previous post was about the Proposed Tuition Increase Information for the 2018-2019 Academic year showing the current prices and proposed prices and the change it would be to attend the university. Lobby Corps and @ASICSUF’s call of action in that post asking students who were going to be affected by this change to click in the bio to share their stories to be forwarded to the Board of Trustees and legislators who will be voting in May. 

It was hard finding hashtags on social media for this social movement.  It makes sense because social media is made up of weak ties. Not everyone who follows you on social media goes to school with you. The hashtags that were used were #chooseCSU, #fundthedream. Currently, for #chooseCSU, on Instagram, these’s about 1,200 posts. Under these hashtags, same story different school trying to get students involved in stopping the proposed tuition increase.

Last year, Jerry Brown gave money to the people who suffered destruction from the fires. Those people have insurance that protects them from property damage. We won’t know if this social movement reaches the transformation stage which is success in this social movement until May 2018. As has been seen in the State of Colorado and Washington with the legalization of cannabis those industries have paid the states excise taxes and licensing fees which helped aid public health programs and education. Can’t Jerry Brown wait until the funds come in from the cannabis industry? What's to stop the next tuition hike? They're not going to lower the price and roll it back once it's there and money is coming in. They're going to add a new increase claiming "inflation". He needs to think of the long-term effect of investing in education where 500,000 graduates will need to fill in for the aging population that will soon retire and the growing population of the state. As it is, there’s a shortage of teachers, nurses and healthcare workers, and the need for information industries with the rise of artificial intelligence. The cost of keeping tuition as is will help the future of California.

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Labor

Aspirational Labor that is done by the bloggers that Duffy interviews is exploitive. Duffy describes the women as ‘real women’ who are used by companies as expressions to commodify feminism. The aspirational laborers are content producers who invest their time, money and energy into getting discovered. Tokumitsu states, “Emotionally satisfying work is still work, and acknowledging it as such doesn’t undermine it in any way. Refusing to acknowledge it, on the other hand, opens the door to exploitation and harms all workers” Exploitation and wage pay is part of the women’s rights that celebrity female activist are fighting for in the Times Up movement. “DWYL is how ruthlessly it works to extract female labor for little or no compensation. Women comprise the majority of the low-wage or unpaid workforce” (Tokumitsu) Duffy says that aspirational labor is romanticizing work that is often unpaid, time consuming and expenses for technology development as investments. There’s no proof that this work will be compensated which is why it’s exploitive. 

Both female celebrity activists and the aspirational laborers require active participation in networking to remain relevant. The Instrumentality of Affective Relationships is necessary to keep their following and grow it. Since the #MeToo movement, those leaders followings grew by the millions. Celebrity female activists use social media platforms to promote a message of social change as well as their personal brand. Social media is a tool of promotion to enhance their economic capital. Celebrities flourish in this “new economy,” wherein neoliberal ideologies shift risks and responsibilities onto individual citizens uncompensated digital media activities—commenting on a TV show review board, creating a YouTube parody, or participating in a user-generated ad contest—are conceptualized as digitally enabled forms of creative expression or, alternatively, as free labour exploited by the machinations of capitalism.” (Duffy) They are the epitome of the ““DWYL” mantra because they are able to combine pleasure of work and activism with income generated from the online promotion for their projects. There is a clear division of “inequalities of class, ability, and education” Their socialization and network of people are usually other celebrities or events that aspirational labors dream of attending.

Chrissy Teigen tries to appear ordinary by posting on social media about food. This something everyone can relate to because everyone must eat. Her content online weekly has food as part of her storytelling to appear “authentic”. She even put out a cookbook, Cravings, which is an extension of DWYL mantra. Cravings has many people commenting positively, purchasing and trying out the recipes on social media. Her followers want to know when the next cookbook is coming out. She is a professional model not a professional cook.

Reese Witherspoon promotes Elizabeth Arden, her clothing brand, Daper James, projects of her production company, such as her latest movie, A Wrinkle in Time. She includes many female celebrities on her weekly posts, Melinda Gates, Eva Longoria, and retweets and likes other Times Up leaders such as, Alyssa Milano. She is vocal in fighting for women’s rights by calling out politicians on social media and giving platforms to causes that promote social change. Her followers are active and ready to consume whatever she puts out there. 

Alyssa Milano and Melinda Gates are more proactive on activism for women’s rights on social media. Their projects are promoted on their social media to bring awareness to their followers. They each are very vocal about politics. They empower women by highlighting women, causes, and non-profit organizations. They each speak on their experiences which demonstrate authenticity of similar struggles despite the division of inequality, class, race etc. They encourage other women to share their story. Much like D'Entremont, the Science Babe, they are “outspoken, informal, relatable — play an important role in teaching the public.”

No one likes to work for free. Celebrities will get paid for their post on social media. The bloggers, amateurs and micro celebrities hope to get paid like the actual celebrities they emulate. Not that many make it big. So their work is free and a loss to our economy. It’s reflective of the emergent forms of work in the digital economy that is becoming the norm. “Aspirational labour thus reifies gendered social hierarchies, reproducing structural conditions that leave women’s work unrecognized and/or under-compensated.” (Duffy)

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Fans and Amateurs

Female celebrity activists are part of a grassroots movement online which has gained momentum by partaking in the practice of participatory culture. Participatory culture is the online involvement of users, audiences, consumer and fans in the creation of culture and content. The topics of women’s rights, equality, gender gap, sexual harassment, violence against women are found in popular culture by having professionals in all industries speak on their experiences. Spreadable media and online activism is a combination that celebrity female activists can employ by using their education, experience and credentials to engage and bridge the ‘digital divide’.

Female celebrity activists are part of spreadable media based on Jenkins logic “if it doesn’t spread, it’s dead.” They are women and youth, who much like scrapbooks and Facebook comparison, are “two groups historically underrepresented in ‘official archives’. A convergence culture is a grassroots fan communities that have emerged in response to mass media content has emerged out of this online movement.

Since October 2017, the #MeToo movement has progressed to #TimesUp in which these leaders have gained millions of followers on different social media platforms. Their followers have been vocal on each post. Social media combines interactivity and participation. Interactivity of new technologies have been designed to be more responsive to consumer feedback, such as video games, in which you are limited by the designer in what a user can do. Participation is more open-ended by media consumers who shape the cultural and social protocols and less under the control of media producers.

Lines have been blurred in today’s media ecology in distinguishing between fans, amateurs and professionals. There are ways to discover who are professionals on social media by having professionals have verified accounts. Each celebrity female activist that I’m following has a verified account and multiple fan accounts. Fans are very responsive to each post online. Amateurs try to emulate the professionals they want to be. An amateur is as Lessing refers “individuals (who) create (creators of content) and share culture fall within the reach of the regulation of the law, which has expanded to draw within its control a vast amount of culture and creativity that it never reached before.” According to Lessing, “creators could produce and distribute a much more vibrant range of creativity” resulting in future economic gain “so long as the RCAs of our day don’t use the law to protect themselves against this competition” 

Jenkins describes fans as “early adapters of new media technologies … who are the most active segment of the media audience … and insists on the rights to become full participants’ The Internet has allowed fan sites to be visible and giving them a sense of power that threatens media conglomerates. Japan has constructed a “moral economy” in which they aligned themselves with fans. Lessig understands that the future on consumption is changing. He describes the change in an economic perspective of “Smart companies of the future would empower rather than constrain consumer participation, and those who did not build stronger relations with consumers would be unable to compete.” A professional was once an amateur. Professionals have had to start by learning. As teenagers, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, made Super-8 fiction films.  That experience had major influence on their subsequent work. “Most comic book artists and science fiction writers got their start through fan publishing.”

Reese Witherspoon, as a leader of #TimesUp. She would be defined as a professional. She has been a speaker at the United Nations International Women’s Day conference. She spoke about how her message reached women migrant farmers in Central California. They wrote back to her. Although, their different socioeconomic status, these women could still relate to the struggle of women. 

Reese expresses her activism through her production company. The content she produces gives other females a platform on their stories. Melinda Gates has recently posted on Instagram about “A Wrinkle in Time”. Melinda writes about her fan participation as a “sci-fi nerd” is attributable to the book. This is an example of spreadable media and fan culture. The feedback on social media has been positive. Fans can relate to her because of the similar interests and are wanting to see the movie.

Depending on the type of information sought, knowing the difference between a professional, amateur and fan is imperative. Professionals are careful to post content because it is spreadable on social media. Whereas, an amateur is trying to make a name for themselves. They will have some knowledge and expertise in what they’re doing but not be monetarily compensated like a professional. A fan will know of and respond to both professionals and amateurs. Like in my previous example, two female celebrity activists promoting the movie for different reasons. Fans are waiting to see it and amateurs will have something new to emulate. Imitation is the best form of flattery.

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Online Minority’s

In 2018, we’re supposed to be living in a time of post racism and color blindness. Yet the irony of new racism is what directly feeds into old school racism. Women have been targets of old racism and new racism. Crowning of Davulri express the “cultural anxieties about race, culture and national identity” and how it was expressed on social media. Cisneros and Nakayama states that “these competing cultural logics about race are not logical but rather must be rearticulated and recentered through shared communicative interactions.” (120)  “In the broader cultures of social media, such as publicized privacy and context collapse, which contributed both to the tweets themselves as well as to the broader backlash and controversy that they engendered” has in time evolved to include celebrity female activists who been subjected offensive tweets, comments, posts like Lil’Mama.

The moral panic of the peaceful online grassroots movement “#MeToo has progressed to #TimesUp and lead to a call of action #TheTimeisNow. In our patriarchal society, women are seen as “dangerous” for changing the culture and norms of society as a collective regarding decades of abuse against women. Women are classifying the misconduct of men as deviant. Yet men have been silencing women for decades of assaults, discrimination, harassment by imposing threats of loss of employment or some other consequence to induce fear. Women are now in industries that have been previously been male-dominated. They are speaking out against men who have been fired for actual misconduct or are known sexual predators. Harvey Weinstein is the symbol of how far the misogynistic power structure is enabled by the mentality of old racist “boys club” mentality.  Anti-feminists have the audacity to compare Salem Witch Hunt and adding to the moral panic. That is absurd to compare a peaceful movement with the mass murders of women using the law and accusations based on superstition. Florini also points out the absurdity of Tyler Perry claiming that abused Black women need to find healing through the love of a good man or how Steve Harvey exploits the moral panic of Black women and marriage. “Within the subcultural context, the tweets became a commentary on the politics of Black femininity.” 

Today, International Women’s Day 2018, was trending across social media platforms thanking women in history who made a difference in the lives of women. Today, we acknowledge women who broke glass ceilings in male dominated industries. Mothers, sisters, friends were acknowledged in recognition of International Women’s Day. Young men raised by single mothers were shouting out single mothers by saying: “Fellas Respect that!” Women encouraged other women to keep working hard and pursue their dreams and create a better world for future generations. 

The subculture of feminists experience old racism and new racism online. Feminist shared vernacular included phrases such as: “Women’s equality”, “Independent”, “strong”, “My body, my choice”, “Empowered women, empower women”, “Girl Power”, “Made by a Woman”, “Queens Fix Each Other’s Crown”, “Alone & Drunk I want to get home safe” from Spain, “Our body, Whose choice? Our choice” from Ireland. These phrases function as a marker online to signify a feminist identity. As Florini stated, “Timing is key to signifying.” (Tweets, Tweeps 233). 

Reese Witherspoon attended the United Nations as a speaker to discuss the women’s right internationally. She is a leader for the Times Up movement. This online movement has globally reached women. Women have collectively came together to stand up for their rights as women in regards to reproductive/health issues, equal pay, equality, etc. The focus is to empower women and girls and push for social change. She posted on her accounts that she was there. She shared her excitement to meet activists with her followers. 

Melinda Gates announced a $170 million project by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to advance women’s economic empowerment in India, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. The project has four key priorities: advancing gender equality spreading digital financial inclusion, increasing job opportunities and supporting the agricultural sector and women’s support groups. Money is independence for women. Positive changes will happen for the women in those countries. Women who can control their own finances and take charge of their lives will make a better life for their families.

To commemorate the day, Melinda Gates posted a picture of her mother who inspired her as a child to be anything or anyone she wanted to be.

Celebrity female activists have performed their shared values to push for social change to empower women globally. As a collective, there is power in the numbers. Voting, call of actions, and the use of digital media to keep promoting the message that laws need to catch up to the social changes long overdue. My dad has always said that this best time to be a woman. This movement is going to be part of history. It’s exciting to see what changes will be made in our legal system as social norms are rejecting the boys’ club mentality that fuels old racism and new racism experienced by women.

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Gender

Gender is performed on social media according to our norms. Women are more likely to leave comments and feedback on posts. Virtual Feminisms (440) explores how the use of the Internet “reframes feminist activism in creative ways, constructing a diverse community through local and global online networks…” In our postfeminist age, political activism has moved from online blogs to social media and “... allowing girls to explore feminism through anonymity if desired and the minimal commitment or risk” (Virtual Feminisms 437)

The comments section “function as a space for dissemination of information related to marginalized groups as well as support for these communities.” (Virtual Feminism 442) Alyssa Milano uses social media to challenge the patriarchy and promote political and social change. The feedback of Alyssa Milano’s retweet of “MeToo” in October 2017 was over a million retweets from other celebrities to ordinary women who shared similar experiences. There is an active dialog that went back and forth between her (the celebrity) and her followers. Her followers, like the bloggers, have an open dialogue going on whatever she posts. Recently on Twitter, she has asked her followers to boycott companies that are still business with the NRA following the Parkland school shooting. She is raising awareness for voting in the upcoming midterm elections. She is raising money for those who need a voter id. She is educating her followers on the truth of our computerized election system. She retweets different issues from Net neutrality to immigrant rights and is vocal on calling out politicians.

On February 14, 2017 Alyssa Milano posted a video on Instagram warning of explicit language that is used. The video was of the real tweets she has received on her timeline daily such as, “Comments from kill yourself would be a good start!” to sexualized insults. She responded with #LoveIsLouder and used her brand to sell that t-shirt. The feedback in the comments showed her lots of support for what she is doing. Even comments such as “@jamielv I may not always agree with you @milano_alyssa but you are a person just like me. We can actually have thoughts and values that might be different and both be valuable to society. We are women, mothers, daughters, wives, friends and so much MORE and we do not deserve to be talked to like that. Breaks my heart people are so hateful”

During our Roundtable discussion, Gill’s feedback and validation was explored. Gill’s description of what’s going on in our postfeminist culture can be seen in popular media. Gill states that “A large role in popular media, then, is translating or mediating men’s and women’s communication, customs, and ‘funny ways to each other (in a manner one could argue, that still systemically privileges male power). As discussed, Instagram encourages you to put yourself out there. Recently on Instagram, Melinda Gates speaks on the feedback and validation she experienced during the launch of the foundation from Prime Ministers or President of a country. Melinda spoke about how it wasn’t easy at first being ignored by these powerful males in these meetings. At first, they focused on Bill Gates which reflects the ‘systemically privileges male power’. Bill learned how to make room for Melinda in these meetings. She would wait until she would speak up. The feedback she got from these males who are used to women not participating in such meetings was one of surprise because of the creditability she had and the fact that she knows what she is talking about. Bill laughed at this reaction because he found it funny. “Well why wouldn’t they think I married someone smart? Of course, I would marry someone smart.”  The support Bill gave Melinda is what is needed for social change to happen. Men need to show their support to make social change happen. Together they learned how to be intentional about how they handled that situation throughout the years working with their foundation. They built a partnership of equals. The comments for this post were thanking her for sharing. “@alexwithatwist commented “This is so important! I feel so validated by your story!! I’ve learned to practice the same intentional behavior in meeting with potential clients and my CEO. It’s so cool to hear you share this!” 

Weiser states, “Feedback is crucial to creating a self-brand; in order to sell oneself in a particular way, there must be a conscious recognition of the fact that other users are “buying,” even if the feedback is negative (the logic of “all press is good press”). (Branding the Postfeminist Self, 288) Reese Witherspoon was mentioned in this week’s presentation in reference to the social movement “Time’s Up”. She uses social media to promote her brand which gives a platform to push for women’s rights, equal pay and break thru discrimination.  Reese Witherspoon created her production company because in her industry there weren’t many leading roles for women that told stories about women. She gets a lot of feedback on social media. Currently, she is promoting her movie “A Wrinkle in Time”. In our participatory culture, “… girls have been active participants of online culture in part because of unregulated nature of online spaces that nonetheless remains a public way to connect with peer communities and express personal interests outside of adult intervention.” (Virtual feminisms 434) On Instagram, recent feedback after the movie after the premiere was mixed reviews. @wmqiros “Love the wat you three talk about teachers in this video. I’m studying to be one and nowadays some people don’t’ give the value that this career deserves.” Reese Witherspoon posts memes made up about her snapchat stories on Instagram creating a brand awareness that even guys left feedback for her like @delajuwon “@reesewitherspoon you are my spirit animal lol” 

Postfeminism is redefined as social and political changes are happening. Social media captures the “level of scrutiny and hostile surveillance which has no historical precedent.” (Gill 163) The role of feedback and validation is needed to continue explore “freedom, equality, innovation, entrepreneurship” regarding the post-feminist self. Without constant feedback that is made available using social media platforms, it would be hard to continue the relationship found online within this subculture. These female celebrity activists are setting the discussions between media culture and neoliberal social relations found online. They use their platform to advocate for the changes that have been fought for in previous waves of feminists that are now being threaten under current Trump Administration.

A post shared by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa) on Feb 14, 2018 at 12:00pm PST

A post shared by Melinda Gates (@melindafrenchgates) on Feb 18, 2018 at 11:56am PST

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Introduction

Celebrity Female Activists

Celebrity female activism isn’t something that is new. We are living in a time where the cultural norms are being changed. Women are now part of the one percent of society due to securing high-level job in different industries from finance to healthcare. For my blog, I plan on following active female celebrities on their social media accounts such as, Alyssa Milano, Chrissy Teigen, Chelsea Handler, Melinda Gates and Reese Witherspoon.

Alyssa Milano is an actress, producer and entrepreneur who started her activism in the 1980s. She went on a talk show to kiss a fan who had HIV to prove that she wouldn’t catch the disease through casual contact. Before Lady Gaga wore the meat dress to MTV Video Music Awards in 2010, in 2007 Alyssa wore a dress made of plants for PETA.  On Twitter, Alyssa Milano stays active by retweeting and microblogging her opinion with 240 characters or less.  

Chrissy Teigen is another celebrity who uses her social media for political commentary. Before President Trump blocked her on Twitter, Chrissy constantly trolled him since 2011. It was easy. It was entertaining to see them go back and forth until the “Lolllllll no likes you.”  got her blocked. This blocking of a civilian lead to a lawsuit claiming that government officials can’t block people because it violates the First Amendment.

Chelsea Handler has taken her comedy to Twitter daily. Comedians in our country are protected under the First Amendment unlike other countries around the world where harassment and death are the consequence for their mocking of government. Political humor is now more factual on issues than the government officials who try and discredit the media by labeling them as “fake news.” It’s fantastic seeing the creativity of comedians using real life topics. I never heard of “alternative facts” until Trump���s press secretary used it in explaining his autocratic behavior.

Melinda Gates is a business woman who has seen the rise of technology. She is number 3 on Forbes list of most Powerful Women in the world. She is an advocate for women in technology. Technology is another male dominated industry. Melinda uses her Twitter to advocate for women. I learned through her Twitter how males are uncomfortable mentoring women when during the #MeToo movement was happening. She shares a lot of insight that she has seen nationally and globally. Her political commentary comes from an intellectual perspective that is easy to follow.

Reese Witherspoon is another child actress that grew up in Hollywood. She herself has been victimized in a male dominated industry. During the #MeToo movement in October, Reese revealed that at the age of 16 she was sexually assaulted by a director. During her career, the harassment and sexual assault continued. Reese is producer and entrepreneur. She started her own production company to share more movies with female leads. She saw that there was a need in the market that wasn’t being met by Hollywood. Reese’s activism comes from her roles as a woman and mother. She uses her social media to share her views on women rights.

Last year in October, a social media movement, #metoo, spread to demonstrate the widespread problem of workplace sexual assault/harassment encountered by women. Various women have come forward and spoke out after the New York Times published the story on October 5, 2017 regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct of Harry Weinstein. These allegations were made by women over the duration of the last thirty years. Recently, Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar was sentenced by Judge Rosemarie Aquilina for multiple sex crimes. Nassar pleaded guilty to molesting girls while giving them medical examinations or treatment. Chrissy Teigen offered to pay McKayla Maroney’s $100,000 for breaking the NSA agreement for speaking at Nassar’s sentencing. McKayla was threatened to pay the fine for breaking the NSA and that itself is part of the problem.

What struck me was the awareness and empathy that carried beyond the “haters” and “trolls” giving women the platform share their stories. To me, this signifies that a change is taking place much like the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s. This movement at first started out as a Twitter hashtag that grew to Instagram and spread globally. Out of this movement, these female celebrities gave a voice to advocate for women’s rights, equal pay and discrimination they themselves encounter in a patriarchy society. These issues are now changing our modern society from online to changing the outdated legislature. The #MeTooBill is in Congress. That bill will change the way a complaint is filed against a Congressperson. 

Women are now in a position to help make real changes. These celebrity female activists are voicing opinions other than the typical female topics such as make-up, food, or new workout fads. These women will be looked at by future generations as the Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhursts, and the iconic Rosie the Riveters of our digital age for advocating on social change for women.