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Cultural appropriation effect in society
Cultural appropriation effect in society
Cultural appropriation pros and cons
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Miley Cyrus ' 2013 VMA performance at the VMA’s created immediate controversy. The once wholesome star of Disney 's Hannah Montana came onto the stage scantily dressed, singing a song that celebrated drug use, as she twerked all over her full figured, black female backup dancers. A multitude of articles were written about her performance; some were outraged, and some defended her right as a liberated young woman to express her sexuality. Two writers who expressed their outrage were Tressie Cottom and Hadley Freeman. Their complaint was that the sexualization of the heavier black dancers by a slim white woman was cultural appropriation, Although the two writers were on the same side of the argument, they looked at the situation from different places. …show more content…
Hadley Freeman 's article, “Miley Cyrus’s twerking routine was cultural appropriation at its worst” ,was also published on August 27, 2013, on theguardian.com in the opinion …show more content…
Cottom speaks from personal experience, which give her arguments a validity that Ms. Freeman 's does not have. Cottom’s article is more successful in showing her rhetorical purpose than Freeman’s because she has a firsthand perspective of racial appropriation, giving her credibility. Throughout the article Cottom mentions multiple occasions where white men and women at bars have treated her as though she were just a sexual machine. She tells specific things that have happened to her such as “Woman asking to feel my breasts in the ladies’ restroom. Men asking me for a threesome, as his drunk girlfriend or wife looks on smiling. Frat boys offering me cash to “motorboat” my cleavage. Country boys in cowboy hats attempting to impress his buddies by grinding on my ass to an Outcast music set (Cottom,
In her article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh writes about the privilege white individuals get without noticing it. McIntosh talks about how whites are taught to not recognize their privilege. McIntosh having a background in Women’s Studies, she also talks about how men have more privileges than women, yet they rarely recognize it. In the article McIntosh claims that “After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious.”
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
The author, Celeste M. Condit, listed many of her personal experiences instead of statistics and research findings, which made the article easy for the reader to identify with , while remaining highly credible. Condit provided ample examples to justify her position, such as inappropriate nonverbal behaviors intended to establish dominance. Those nonverbal behaviors included male students putting arms around her shoulders and placing a hand on her knee. Condit (1996) points out, “I discovered that this mannerism was a routine way in which white Southern males exhibit their dominance over females” (Mayberry, 2009, p.252). In one incident, a male student chased a female professor down a hallway, yelling at her for a low grade. In yet another incident Condit was physically threatened by a student and required the ass...
Dr. Peggy McIntosh looks at white privilege, by “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” She describes white privilege as almost a special check or coin that she gets to cash in on. Dr. McIntosh tells that white privilege has been a taboo and repressed subject – and that many white people are taught not to see or recognize it. However, she is granted privileges (McIntosh 30). Dr. McIntosh goes on to describe twenty-six ways in which her skin-color grants her certain privileges. In example twenty, she describes how she can buy “…posters, postcards, picture books…” and other items that “…feature people of my race” (32). Additionally, in her first example, she talks about being able to be in the “company of people of my race most of the time” (McIntosh 31). Instances in which a privilege person would not even recognize unless they were looking, show evidence for white privilege. People take these advantages for granted because they simply expect them. Due to the lack of melatonin in her skin, she was granted privileges and her skin served as an asset to her. Dr. McIntosh conveys how her privilege is not only a “favored state,” but also a power over other
In “Citizens: An American Lyric” by Claudia Rankine the audience is placed in a world where racism strongly affects the daily American cultural and social life. In this world we are put as the eyewitnesses and victims, the bystanders and the participants of racial encounters that happen in our daily lives and in the media, yet we have managed to ignore them for the mere fact that we are accustomed to them. Some of these encounters may be accidental slips, things that we didn’t intend to say and that we didn’t mean yet they’ve managed to make it to the surface. On the other hand we have the encounters that are intentionally offensive, things said that are
Desmond King and Stephen Tuck’s “De-Centring the South: America’s Nationwide White Supremacist Order after Reconstruction” was focused on how white supremacy flourished in not only the South, but in the North and West as well, debunked that the North and West were much better places to live regarding racial discrimination, and how African Americans had lacking representation in the political sphere. Laura F. Edwards, on the other hand, discusses how the legal system judged certain crimes, such as rape, were affected by one’s sex, black women’s and white women’s experiences with sexual assault, the assumptions related to the lower class affected women, and misogyny in her “Sexual Violence, Gender, Reconstruction, and the Extension of Patriarchy
Since young girls today spend more time surfing the web, they are exposed to more mainstream advertisements that boast sexual content, and as a result, many girls want to do the things they are seeing young girls just like Winifred do. In addition to exposure to sexual content on the internet, the music of popular culture leaves very little to the imagination. Women in these music videos are more often shown as provocative and wearing revealing clothing. Many girls look up to these women and want to emulate them because they are their favorite artist. For instance, Beyoncé’s album “Beyoncé” features the song “Partition”, where Beyoncé says “He Monica Lewinski all on my gown”. The sexual reference to Monica Lewinski is hypersexu...
1. What you are studying (which three works and the topic of your paper) Topic: I’m going to be writing my paper on Cultural Appropriation. I’m going to focus on cultural appropriation in music and hip hop. Then I’m going to use cultural appropriation in hair as a way of questioning whether cultural appropriation is actually cultural appreciation.
Lena is often described as the “voice of her generation” when it comes to women’s rights; but often times, Lena receives backlash from writers, social media goers, and interviewers. Many “aren’t [as] critical of the structure of society and aren’t necessarily thinking about other ways things could be” like Dunham is (Hamad et. al). Oftentimes people, especially men, feel threatened when Dunham uses her fame to boldly speak out of issues that many ignore; for example, Lena carries a “devotion to questioning sexual norms and norms of representation,” especially when looking at the “heteropatriarchal uses of female nudity and sexuality” in society today (Filippo 2016). Lena believes that porn oftentimes “[conceals] and [denies] women’s humanity” (Filippo 2016). Lena also spoke out on how Hillary Clinton’s political campaign was slashed using the patriarchal ideal, stating that “The way that Hillary Clinton’s been talked about in the media [was] so gendered and rabidly sexist in every single portrayal” (Staff 2016). Lena, being a woman, and also being a bold woman who speaks out about feminist issues that many ignore, receives large amounts of
The premises that race and gender are social constructs mobilized anti-racism and feminist movements, including education and research, to counter the issues encompassed within these two forms of discrimination. However, while there are many arguments supporting the problems surrounding white supremacy as well as the sexual oppression of women, the combination of both race and gender lacks examination in comparison. Racialized women are commonly associated with being sexually available and exotic, despite feminist movements against the objectification of women. Because women are underrepresented in arguments against race, and issues of race are underrepresented in arguments against the sexualization of women, racialized women are marginalized and continue to face both racism and gender inequality.
The events that took place during the halftime show of the Super Bowl may have shocked and angered many parents for exposing such sexual behavior and nudity to their children, but there were also a great number of people who questioned why people were so upset over a few seconds of screen time that Janet Jackson’s left breast received. After all, it was simply part of the female anatomy. Many people argued that it wasn’t just nudity, that it was “softcore” pornography because of the sexual conduct that was behind the performance. It is understandable that Jackson and Timberlake’s routine was full of sexual innuendo, but the majority of young children usually don’t pick up on such behavior and thus a simple “wardrobe malfunction.”
In the article, Rape, Racism, and the Myth of the Black Rapist, the author, Angela Davis, discusses on the creation of the myth of the black rapist. This article brings two main ideas together to in order to make a valid argument to why both claims are false and hold no legitimacy. Davis argues that one was created in order to cover up for the other I order to veil the true offenders of sexual abuse. Davis also elaborates on the issue by adding to the argument and stating that white women are also being affected by these myths in a negative way because of the women’s bodies are being perceived as a right.
Cyrus was the host 2015 VMAs and she did a racist performance of using black culture, a popular, trending culture in America, to promote herself as “wild and dangerous” by using black people as “props” for butt slapping and twerking (Makarechi 2013). Therefore, Manji turned her acceptance speech toward Cyrus by calling her out on her liberalist discussion about her on media a few days earlier. Cyrus had stated that Manji should blame herself for not being nominated as the best music video of the year along with Taylor Swift and other artists (Feeney 2015). Manji pointed out how the entertainment industry chose white artists to win awards and ignored nonwhite artists even though their music was also very popular and well-deserving to received awards as well. Furthermore, Manji pointed out that if Cyrus was going to enjoy black culture, she should care about the black people who created that culture as well. Cyrus, on the other hand, refused to give a response (Feeney 2015). Hence, in summary of what Wiley thinks, she stated, “’[White feminism] thinks twerking is a revolution on Miley but wants to know why Nicki just won’t respect herself though’” (Button Poetry
This fieldwork aims to sociologically analyze gender roles and expectations within the movie White Chicks. In this film brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, play the role of two black FBI agents looking to get back into good graces with their superior after they accidentally ruined a drug bust. They are assigned to escort two rich white females, Brittney and Tiffany Wilson, to the Hamptons for Labor Day festivities. While traveling they experience a minor car accident, leaving the girls with a single scratch each on their face. Because of their socialite status, the sisters no longer wish to continue their trip in fear of humiliation. The agents fear losing their chance of redemption, so they decide to disguise
The most trending music genre gets a lot of listeners because of its the discrimination. As the songs and advertisements gain followers, it starts to become realized by the citizens. Pop culture artists sing about drugs, alcohol and women. The portrayal of women by these composers is dreadful because it degrades the significance and importance of their existence. Pop culture has always been a home for gender domination and discrimination. It is becoming increasingly “pornified.” As Valenti quotes, “After all, while billboards and magazines ads may feature a ripped guy from time to time, it’s mostly women who make up what sexy is supposed to be. And it’s not just sexy-it’s straight-up sex” (Valenti, 44). The pornography has been a part of the culture and has been accepted by younger women. Feminists have argued that this has increased the inculcation of “raunch culture” in the lives of younger women who fall into it as they feel it empowers them. However, it is a kind of faux empowerment. This illustrates that the media is promoting and utilizing pop culture to change the social norms in an attempt to instruct women on their role in the society. In essence, pop culture with its propaganda desires to change women’s view on nudity until it can become inherent in American culture, and thus eliminating opposition to benefit pop culture in the long run. Valenti persuades her readers by saying, “ the ‘show’ is everywhere. In magazines like Maxim and Playboy. And in the insanity of Girls Gone Wild, with teens putting on fake lesbian make-out sessions so guys will think they’re hot.” Levy also mentions a character, influenced by raunch culture and a reader of Playboy magazines, named Erin who is piqued her curiosity and provided her with inspiration because of this culture. Erin says, “There’s countless times in my life where I know I’ve turned people on just by showing off (by putting on a