pioneergender-blog - Tumblr blog

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For my final Tumblr post, I have chosen to cover Symbolic Annihilation again. 

To reiterate, Symbolic Annihilation is defined as “the annihilation, absence or active un-representation of a cultural group, i.e. decimating a culture by disallowing the symbolic representation of that group or misrepresenting that culture within the mainstream media or consciousness.” 

Above I have chosen to cover tradition African-American hairstyles that celebrities such as Zendaya and Kim Kardashian. Lately, celebrities have been under fire for appropriating hairstyles that are traditionally worn by African-Americans. This normally wouldn’t be such a problem if the media and the celebrities rocking these styles would give homage to the people who created them. For example, Kim Kardashian, in the first picture, is dawning single braids. When being covered, the media claimed it as “innovative styling” and “creative”. When Zendaya was seen at the Oscars wearing traditional dread locks, magazines and media officials mocked her hairstyle calling it “messy”, “urban” and even going as far as to say “she looks like she smells like marijuana”. 

These hairstyles have been annihilated by society, their style given a different meaning depending on whose head its on. It’s not cool when the Black celebrity is wearing these natural styles but the minute a white celebrity is seen in them it becomes a worldwide sensation that everyone wants. 

These are the styles that black people have worn for decades and have perfected and innovated overtime and it hurts to see the world turn its back on these styles that have been around for years when a black person chooses it but open its arms and accept the appropriation and symbolic annihilation of the white celebrity who also chooses it. 

-Wesley Barker

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Hello everyone! For my 3A Tumblr post, I chose Disidentification as my topic of choice. I felt that I had a lot to talk about with disidentification and was able to find another blog that talks about it as well. 

Disidentification is defined as a psychological phenomenon that occurs when individuals belong to groups they do not wish to belong to. Thus, disidentification relates to identities that are perceived to be threatening to the self 

In the article above, “Disidentification Is Bliss”, Kyle Pedersen focuses their attention on the disidentification of queer Muslim people from parts of their religion that ban homosexuality and standards for homosexuality.

Within the article, Pedersen makes a reference to Jose Esteban Munoz and his work titled Disidentifications. In the article, Pedersen explains “ In the example, Gomez struggles to fit in with the standard narrative of a lesbian woman. For Gomez, she experiences a time with her mother and friends that exposes to her the external appearance of a lesbian, and as a result, Gomez is not too fond with the standard that lesbian women are expected to meet. Just like the queer Muslims presented in previous paragraphs, Gomez performs the disidentification strategy by seeking to represent herself in her own light — and not the uniform identity to which most lesbians were expected to conform.”

In my own life I have also faced disidentification. As a somewhat closeted bisexual man, I didn’t like the way that queer people were used as propaganda in the christian belief. As the grandson of a pastor I’ve struggled with ,y sexuality and being open but I decided to take my faith into my own hands. I am not a stereotype of gay, bisexual or, queer men, and I am not a pawn for the ministry. I believe in may faith but homosexuality or any other form of sexuality shouldn’t be used against me. 

-Wesley Barker

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For my 3 Tumblr post I chose Alterity and along with it I tagged the movie Freak Show as it is the perfect definition of the term.

Alterity simply is otherness. Difference or being otherwise and Freak Show is definitely that!

Freak Show tells the story of Billy Bloom, a gender fluid, sexually ambiguous teenager living in an ultra-conservative town going to high school and they are bullied by their fellow classmates for their otherwise different way of living. Billy decides to shake things up and run for homecoming queen instead of king. 

This film is the essence of alterity because the main character is living this definition. Billy is living different, thinking different, and even dressing different that their other classmates. They thrive off their different lifestyle and never let the fact that they beat to a different drum stop them from reaching a goal.

While Freak Show is a celebration for difference and standing out and being your true self, it is also a statement for alterity and its need in society and how more people should be celebrated for this!

-Wesley Barker

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For my 2nd Tumblr post, I wanted to focus on essentialism. 

Essentialism: the idea that some categories have a shared, unobservable essence beneath their superficial properties.

When I was searching through this concept, I came across this article from Psychology Today titled: “The Danger of “Boys Will Be Boys” written by Elizabeth J. Meyer Ph.D.Gender and Schooling. 

Throughout the article, Meyer makes several points about how the once simple phrase can have much deeper effects on young people throughout their lives. In one statement when talking about how well students performed on tests, Meyers claimed “For example, students of color underperformed in similar measures when students were asked to mark their gender or race on their test papers. In cases where students were not "reminded" of this group membership—and as a result, the associated stereotypes—students performed much better” (Psychology Today). 

Meyers goes on to state that things like boys will be boys or associations with girls being girls calls for an unconscious bias and underlying bias in young people based on these gender stereotypes. There’s also oversimplification when we just break it down to that it’s a “boy or girl thing” and doesn’t help solve any problems or help people navigate their identities.

Work Cited : Elizabeth J. Meyer Ph.D, PsychologyToday.com

                     Wesley Barker

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For my 1 Tumblr post, I chose to tell a story of what happened to me recently and how it fits into what I believe is Symbolic Annihilation. 

Symbolic Annihilation: The annihilation, absence or active un-representation of a cultural group, i.e. decimating a culture by disallowing the symbolic representation of that group or misrepresenting that culture within the mainstream media or consciousness.

My story was very recent and it changed the way I look at my place of employment. I work for Nordstrom, a high end retail chain that services all around the world. I love my job and I love that I get to work around fashion and shop all day!

I was recently ringing up a customer for a pair of heels very similar to these (these are apart of the 2009-10 era of Louboutin heels) and I referred to them as “red bottoms” because of their distinct red sole on the heel. Many artists and celebrities ranging from rap artist Cardi B, who nicknamed the shoes “Bloody Shoes” on her 2018 hit “Bodak Yellow”, to influencers like the Kardashian sisters have all called them red bottoms. It’s popularized the brand and made them cooler. When I did refer to them as such, not only did my customer look at me weird, but so did my management team. At first I thought that maybe I had said something wrong but that wasn't it. 

Later on I was told that although artists of color, mainly African-American rappers, have put their stamp on the shoe with the nickname red bottom, it made the shoe less desirable to “Nordstrom Standard”customers. In other words, Black artists can be used to get people in but the minute the slang is used the item loses value. I felt so uneasy because of how natural it felt coming from them. Like it wasn’t an issue. I still continue to refer to them as such! A name, no matter who it comes from, should not depreciate an item.

-Wesley Barker 

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For my Tumblr 1A post I chose Encoding/Decoding. Encoding is he process of turning thoughts into communication. Decoding is  the process of turning communication into thoughts. Both typically use a medium to send the message- text, phone cal, Skype, smoke signals lol. 

In my example I chose the Smartphone Hour from the musical “BE MORE CHILL”. The teens are sending rumors and their own personal opinions through text and social media. Through this, they are encoding messages and decoding as well!

-Wesley Barker

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  Femininity in Musical Theater

  My creation represents the oppression that women face in the art of musical theatre. Historically women have been known to be the majority of performers in the musical theatre community, but somehow it still ends up benefitting white males in power. This affects not only cis women but it also includes trans women and drag performers as well. Basically, anyone who expresses femininity is affected. My poster shows all women (including me) are the backbone of the community and have to work extremely hard because it is more competitive for us to get roles since there is so many of us in the community, but in the end all our work ends up benefitting rich men and our hart work is blown of as men are given the spotlight in theater. When we look at Broadway (Home of musical theater) you will notice that women are definitely the majority of performers and also have to work way harder compared to men. Then, when looking at the amount of directors who are female or producers who are female, there is a lower number compared to men. In the musical theater community men truly dominate the positions of higher power. For example, the Tony awards were created by a white man, which set a standard for white male supremacy in the Broadway community.  Last year Rachel Chavkin was the only woman nominated in the category of Director for her show Hadestown.  This is how the nomination lists usually run, possibly one woman in each category if they are lucky (unless the category is for females only). Chavkin mentioned in her acceptance speech that even though theatre has the ability to bring people closer together and show us a world we want to be part of, we aren’t really getting the experience of the human condition, because it is only being brought to us by one small segment of the population.    The process of creating my poster was a little difficult because I had no colored ink. First, I had to make a collage of all the women who have inspired me in musical theater, trans women in musical theater, drag performers in theater, etc.. and then I cut out a outline to look like a white man to lay on top of the collage because I wanted to make sure the collage of women looked like they were inside the man, as if they are who created him. The spotlight I printed out and the beams are made from scrap paper.

  I chose making a poster like this because I thought the way I felt about this topic could only be portrayed through a visual art piece. I wanted to be able to express how frustrating it is for women in theatre. I feel like being able to see that this man would not exist if it was not for all the women was something that looked best as a poster or picture.

  The three words I have chosen to go with this project are assimilation, symbolism and homonormativity.I chose assimilation because assimilation is activism that prioritizes fitting in to a society or an established group and is fighting for equal rights within it. Being a woman who is part of the musical theatre community I would absolutely want women and men in musical theatre to assimilate that they are equal within the community. I then also chose symbolism because in my art piece I wanted it to symbolize how women are truly the backbone of the musical theater community and all of the men in higher power would not be there without the women there. Finally, I also chose homonormativity because although I am a straight woman, I am also an ally for a lot of people in the lgbtq+ community who express femininity. They are also victims of the oppression that comes with being feminine in musical theatre.

-Tori Speed

Work Cited

Leishman, R., By, & I, R. (2019, June 10). This Year's Tony Awards Show Had a Problem Broadway Is Currently Having. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.themarysue.com/women-at-the-tonys/?fbclid=IwAR0_lC99c_C8nrQW9KRb8pskwNH7uef3EkqWAkE6Mg1YTwR3KenqVsabw4w

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Me

Unapologetically me

By Brianna Alvarado 

I a woman

I am me

I am Bri 

Throughout my life struggles, I was lost at times, 

Couldn’t find a happiness that was truly mine 

A black and Latina girl, removed from her home,

Many times I’ve never felt so alone 

Raised in a white neighborhood and family that I will always claim as mine

There were times that were Devine 

And there were times I missed everything I knew that was once mine

My hair means so much more to me than most 

It gave me a sense of my roots, and my past 

A place I liked to travel in my mind and wish to make it last 

Growing up, some called my hair wild or strange 

Little did they know they were adding on to my complexity of pain 

Some called it beautiful and ethnic 

I didn’t see it like that for a long time 

The comments before had already sunk into me

I let other people have the power over me which felt like a crime 

I grew up so confused not knowing where I belonged,

I ended up in a bunch of scenarios that I thought would make me happy but it still felt so wrong 

That mixed girl with the wild hair was counted out by many from the beginning 

One thing about me is that I have grown, and don’t let my past experiences define me

Until this day, I still heal from the wounds of my childhood searching for my mom to heal this empty hole

Never did I know that starting my own family would make me feel whole

Sometimes I still think of the little girl with mixed hair who didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere 

Now she’s grown up, beautiful and loved 

And I tell her she belongs everywhere 

Concepts:

Intersectionality: I feel like being biracial was huge for me and also the struggles of living in a foster home at some point and where I fit in.

Symbolism: I used hair as my symbolism because I feel like it represents me 

Alterity: I always felt like the odd one out because I grew up in a white neighborhood later in life

[pioneergender-blog]

My creation represents me. You can learn a lot about me just by looking at the pictures, it represents how I see myself, where I come from, and what I believe in. My process in creating this was a little difficult because at first I had no idea where to start. Then I just started thinking about my roots and that’s where I got my first picture from, the Honduran and Mexican flag. I chose that first image because that’s my race. I chose an image that represents how I define myself which is as female and a bisexual flag as well. These are major parts of my life that make me who I am. The three main concepts that inspired my creation are first symbolism. I used many pictures that were a symbolism of who I am. For example the volleyball symbolized joy, and myself. I’ve been playing since middle school and it’s a part of me. I also chose Appropriation/reappropriation, and have an image of a Honduran dish which is called baleadas. Lastly, Intersectionality, which is why I included my sex, race, and, sexuality. 

Jazmin Luna

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The photos I have chosen are ideally representations of me. Each picture has a symbolic way of showing my growth as a person and how far I have come to see . The three words I haven chosen are symbolism, disidentification, and visibility.

I chose to use the mask as my reference to symbolism . Symbolism is the act of which you give life or meaning to an object. The mask for me is a way I could have expressed myself while in high school . From my 8th grade in middle school I had always identified myself as one who was very interested in girls. I never entertained the idea of me being with a male . However as I started to grow and get to high school I still was dating girls but yet I did not find them so interesting anymore. The more I was talking to girls I slowly started to realize that I was not as interested but at this point in my life everyone knew I was dating girls and i felt as if it was wrong for me to entertain both because I was afraid of the responses I would get from society. As I kept progressing through, I can genuinely say I had started to lose a part of my identity because I really did not know what to do with myself. This is where the mask comes into play , I could see myself but sometimes I did not recognize myself because I was doing something to please the opinion of others which no longer pleased me.

The second word I have chosen is disidentification can be identified as dehumanizing yourself by associating yourself with those who do not necessarily understand all of you or only acknowledge some parts of you. I chose this in correlation to the picture on the lower left. Considering my explanation of what I was going through of learning to be okay with myself without the acceptance of others. I was not the happiest person. As I was leaving school I took this photo and played with the settings on the laptop and this was the outcome. I chose to use it in this particular topic because it was also showing that I was in a dark place. I was not happy with myself and what I was doing but I did not know what else to do. All I knew was that I was not where I wanted to be but I knew that as long as I kept seeing the bright side of the little things that I am satisfied with I would be able to get through it and so that is exactly what I did and here I am. Just to get the point across, I also took the image on the lower right. This was after my down process once

Last but not least was visibility , in the top right corner is me . I chose this topic because I had always felt as if I never had a voice within my household as far as how things were in my family any time I would talk nobody really heard me . Honestly, for a while I really did feel invisible like nobody knew I was there. However, once I got to college I realized that I had more of a knack for writing than I had actually imagined. In the picture is my first article ever published on the internet. The day it was put out I had got tons of great feedback and it was good vibes and that’s when I got the hint. Writing was and will always be my way of expressing me and who I am, what I stand for. I know even if nobody will listen to me verbally my pen and paper will always be ready to go and I honestly it is a beautiful thing to have such a significant outlet because some people can’t even say they have that.

Tanisha Dozier

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Femininity in Musical Theater

  My creation represents the oppression that women face in the art of musical theatre. Historically women have been known to be the majority of performers in the musical theatre community, but somehow it still ends up benefitting white males in power. This affects not only cis women but it also includes trans women and drag performers as well. Basically, anyone who expresses femininity is affected. My poster shows all women (including me) are the backbone of the community and have to work extremely hard because it is more competitive for us to get roles since there is so many of us in the community, but in the end all our work ends up benefitting rich men and our hart work is blown of as men are given the spotlight in theater. When we look at Broadway (Home of musical theater) you will notice that women are definitely the majority of performers and also have to work way harder compared to men. Then, when looking at the amount of directors who are female or producers who are female, there is a lower number compared to men. In the musical theater community men truly dominate the positions of higher power. For example, the Tony awards were created by a white man, which set a standard for white male supremacy in the Broadway community.  Last year Rachel Chavkin was the only woman nominated in the category of Director for her show Hadestown.  This is how the nomination lists usually run, possibly one woman in each category if they are lucky (unless the category is for females only). Chavkin mentioned in her acceptance speech that even though theatre has the ability to bring people closer together and show us a world we want to be part of, we aren’t really getting the experience of the human condition, because it is only being brought to us by one small segment of the population.

The process of creating my poster was a little difficult because I had no colored ink. First, I had to make a collage of all the women who have inspired me in musical theater, trans women in musical theater, drag performers in theater, etc.. and then I cut out a outline to look like a white man to lay on top of the collage because I wanted to make sure the collage of women looked like they were inside the man, as if they are who created him. The spotlight I printed out and the beams are made from scrap paper. 

I chose making a poster like this because I thought the way I felt about this topic could only be portrayed through a visual art piece. I wanted to be able to express how frustrating it is for women in theatre. I feel like being able to see that this man would not exist if it was not for all the women was something that looked best as a poster or picture.

The three words I have chosen to go with this project are assimilation, symbolism and homonormativity.I chose assimilation because assimilation is activism that prioritizes fitting in to a society or an established group and is fighting for equal rights within it. Being a woman who is part of the musical theatre community I would absolutely want women and men in musical theatre to assimilate that they are equal within the community. I then also chose symbolism because in my art piece I wanted it to symbolize how women are truly the backbone of the musical theater community and all of the men in higher power would not be there without the women there. Finally, I also chose homonormativity because although I am a straight woman, I am also an ally for a lot of people in the lgbtq+ community who express femininity. They are also victims of the oppression that comes with being feminine in musical theatre.

-Tori Speed

 Work Cited 

Leishman, R., By, & I, R. (2019, June 10). This Year's Tony Awards Show Had a Problem Broadway Is Currently Having. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.themarysue.com/women-at-the-tonys/?fbclid=IwAR0_lC99c_C8nrQW9KRb8pskwNH7uef3EkqWAkE6Mg1YTwR3KenqVsabw4w

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Anthropologie

 Anthropologie is a nationwide known brand that everyones knows of but no one I know would buy from because of how overpriced it is. It’s that brand that you see in the Beverly Center or other certain locations. Being such a big brand, that comes with lots of publicity, a lot of eyes on you. We soon learned that not only are they not supportive of the LGBTQ back community, by not hiring models from the community, but they’re racists as well. “Several former employees claimed that stores in California, Chicago, Seattle, NYC and Canada use the code name “Nick” to refer to Black shoppers”. Would you want to work or buy from somewhere with this background? Didn't think so. Symbolic Annihilation is when there is absence in representation overall, it can go for a race, sexual  orientation, status, and etc. That’s what’s happening in this situation. Anthropologie is showing symbolic annihilation, for the reason being of lacking diversity. The models you see are all skinny, light toned. Where’s the diversity? We are not all the same and wouldn’t you want to embrace that? They lack representation of the LGBTQ community by not having any models represent them, and the black community by not having advocates for that race. They need to open up and expand their horizons to all the other communities out there instead of being bland and sticking to one.

-Jazmin Luna

  Work Cited

Katherine Singh June 24, 2020. “Everlane Is the Latest Brand to Be Accused of Racism.” FLARE, 24 June 2020, www.flare.com/fashion-beauty/fashion-brands-called-out-racism/. 

“From Gucci to Prada, Luxury Fashion Brands Challenged to Confront Racist Attitudes.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 22 June 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/06/22/luxury-fashion-brands-get-blowback-racism-gucci-prada-loreal/3234226001/. 

“Reviews.” Anthropologie, www.anthropologie.com/help/reviews.

[pioneergender-blog]

Last year during Ariana Grande's world tour she performed her song Break Free. During pride month she changed her tour visual of this song to a pride flag waving. When she did this it also changed the meaning of the song. By using the symbolism of a pride flag she showed her support of the LGBTQ community and helped change the meaning of her own song. Making it a coming out story. The feeling of wanting to live your truth and be happy living out. 

" This is the part when I say I don't want ya I'm stronger than I've been before This is the part when I break free 'Cause I can't resist it no more"

Having this feeling of being comfortable with your true self and finally having the confidence to be out and proud. With the new meaning of this song it creates symbolism as coming out. Showing that you can come out when you're ready and when you do it something beautiful. 

(2020). Retrieved 2 November 2020, from https://youtu.be/mL-93bOltdM

[pioneergender-blog]

Disciplinarity by definition, means that it is related to a specific field of study or relating or being used for discipline. For disciplinarity to be in use, it has to be in the state of discipline. An example talked about in class that described the act of being disciplinary is school students being obliged to follow a dress code/rule set in place. They needed to be disciplined if they did not follow the dress code by sending them home or by making them change at that moment. You can also use the term to define someone disciplining the way they express themselves through their thoughts or even by the way they behave.

But I’m A Cheerleader is a film that debuted in 1999. It follows a “average” teenage girl named Megan who has a typical American life. She is a cheerleader, dating a football player,goes to church and doing well in school. However, her parent believe she was gay and decied to send her to a camp that is meant to make her “straight”. While Megan is there, she denies the idea that same sex couples can be and acting as so is “wrong”. She disciplines herself by repeatedly telling herself she is straight because she is a cheerleader and follows the rules society has put in place and what a woman should be and how they should act. In this scene, each gender is expected to engage and act by society’s gender role standards. The women are cleaning,cooking,fitting wedding dresses, and doing makeup.The men are fixing cars, playing football, chopping wood, and acting “tough” and “manly”. The camp leaders are demonstrating the discipline they must follow in order to meet society's standards to be accepted.

Deanna Franco

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In the show Euphoria one of the characters fathers struggles with disidentification. He presents himself as a straight man and he has become very successful in his town. He believes that if he lives his truth that he would lose his success. By lying about his truth ends up causing problems within the show. In this scene, he asks that the character he had sex with named Jules to not tell anyone what happened between them because of the fear of his truth that rules him. As the show goes on as well you're able to see this character struggle with this issue of disidentification. 

Lillyana Cutbirth 

(2020). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Q4QsZyY8A3Q

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Lillyana Cutbirth 

Lohanthony used to be a really famous youtuber back in the late 2000's and early 2010's. He was very expressive early in his presence on youtube and he was even openly gay. As time went on many people forgot about him and his videos. He recently came back on youtube for us to discover he was put through conversion therapy. He unfortunately bought the crap they tell you in conversion therapy. Things like this cause disciplinary to still be present in our modern society.  

[pioneergender-blog]

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything is a 1995 film that follows three drag queens as they drive across the country from New York to California in order to get to a pageant. On their way there, their car breaks down and leaves the three stranded in a small conservative town as they wait to get a car part. In this specific scene, we see all three passing by a certain town that can only be pronounced by Vida. To their surprise, they come to find out that it was in fact Vida’s hometown. As they approach her grand house, Vida explains that she had to leave this rich and glamorous life to be Vida. An older woman comes outside and we see Vida’s eyes open in a wanting gaze and the woman closes her eyes as she is ashamed. We can only infer that this woman is Vida’s mother and is closing the door to her past life for she is no longer accepted there. As Vida rips up the map, we can see how disidentification was in her life. I would define disidentification as someone rejecting an identity because they belong to a group they do not want to be a part of. Vida was once a part of this conservative,rich life because she was born into it. She had a family and people who loved her. However, once young Vida began showing signs of being a part of the lgbtq+ community, they wanted her to stop.If she stayed in this home, she would have never gotten the chance to find Vida and would have had to neglect her true self. Vida left this whole life to be free since she was only accepted as someone she did not want to be.

  “To Wong Foo: A Boy in a Dress.” Edited by David Macoy, Youtube, 27 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAmWspKum1o&list=RDTq-diN1VwyQ&index=16.

  Deanna Franco