Gender, Race, Class & Media

On Oprah: Parenting a Transgendered Child

2011-04-18T10:28:00.003-05:00

We were having so much fun using critical theory to examine Oprah's ideology that I didn't get to show these clips in class. This particular episode serves as an example of the kind of education the talk-show format sometimes offers.

A student sent these clips about a transgendered child and her parents. This story and interview are educational and moving as they explore the issue from both the child's and the parents' perspectives.

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Lisa-Ling-Talks-with-a-Transgendered-7-Year-Old-Girl-Video/topic/oprahshow

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Barb-and-Steve-on-Raising-Hailey-Video/topic/oprahshow

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Raising-a-Transgendered-Daughter-Video/topic/oprahshow

Plastic Surgery to Prevent Bullying?

2011-04-18T10:16:00.004-05:00

From the same student, this story on HuffPost about a 7-year-old girl who underwent cosmetic surgery to prevent being bullied about her ears. The story indicates that the child hadn't been bullied by other kids, but that adults had made inappropriate comments in front of her.

This story is similar those told on Extreme Makeover when that show was still on. The culture obviously has embraced a postfeminist perspective on cosmetic surgery, but does this go too far? Will the trend reverse itself?

'Princess Prep'

2011-04-18T10:05:00.003-05:00

Check out this CNN story, sent by a student, about princess camp for little girls. Here is what the student says:

During Princess Prep, the girls learn how to curtsy, have good posture, ride a horse, and drink tea. The creator of the camp, Jerramy Fine, said being a princess requires sacrifice: "You have to live your life for everyone else, so it's a lot about sacrifice and thinking about others." Thinking about others and sacrificing isn't bad. However, Fine later talks about Disney princesses who have been known to be self-sacrificing for the good of their man.

Furthermore, when the reporter asks the girls why they want to be princesses, one answers, "You get rich." I think this is interesting. While the camp is trying to teach the girls philanthropy, there is [clearly] a class issue. The camp is showing that princesses are always kind and loving. They earn what they have (money) through the goodness of their heart. This obviously isn't true.

So, for these little girls, the way to achieve their dreams is to snag a rich guy by being humble, self-sacrificing, and pretty? I also love how one of the "story highlights" is that this is a camp for little girls "wanting Kate Middleton's fairy-tale life" -- a narrative mediated and overpromoted by the media who profit from it.

Will the madness never end?

Too much Serena?

2011-03-28T10:31:00.004-05:00

A student discovered this story about a racy TV commercial starring Serena Williams that has been pulled following an outcry over its overt sexuality.

Here's what the student says:

It is about a commercial marketing a video game. The commercial stars Serena Williams; it seems as though it is too riske and won't be aired. However, people are questioning why it won't be aired. There are plenty of other commercials and billboards with half-naked athletes on them ... why not one more? Or is there something more behind their decision?

YouTube has pulled the ad off its site at the request of the company that produced it, so it's difficult to judge the situation. The description makes it sound as if the commercial uses common advertising conventions: scantily clad women simulating sexual pleasure and availability for the consumption of a mostly heterosexual male market. Why was this considered over-the-top? Why draw the line here?

Diesel Sells

2011-02-28T15:46:00.014-06:00

From a student, a bunch of Diesel ads from 2010:

Wow. Don't even know what to say about these.

Women in Hollywood

2011-02-28T15:32:00.003-06:00

This video from a student about the dearth of female directors and women-centered films given Academy Awards:

This is what the student says:

This link talks about movies and how they are shown from the male gaze and how they are male-centered. It relates this to a small percentage of Hollywood directors that are women. It was interesting to see that most films that won best picture over the years have been male-centered. The link also makes the point that a lot of movies from the female gaze are about shopping, love, etc.

When Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for best director last year, a lot of the commentary focused on the fact that she had directed a male-centered film. Would she have won, observers wondered, as a woman directing a film about women? Bigelow herself told the LA Times she was looking forward to the day when gender would not be an issue.

Beyonce: Conforming to the 'Dreamworld'?

2011-02-25T10:32:00.005-06:00

A student took notice of Beyonce's performance during the halftime show of the NBA. (The video is no longer available on YouTube due to copyright infringement.)

We had recently watched Sut Jhally's film Dreamworlds. This is what the student says:

[S]he is kind of wearing a skimpy outfit. That reminds me of the music videos. How the women in them are wearing what the men would like them to wear. ... And when Drake enters (a male artist) she acts almost as if she is blown away by his presence. That reminds me about how we talked about men being the dominant sex and the stereotype that women are blown away by a man's presence.

I think he's referring to Jhally's argument that even female artists must conform--if not initially, then eventually--to stereotypes defined by male, heterosexual desires in order to achieve commercial success in the music industry.

It's worth noting that Beyonce is in the news this week for another reason: a controversial photo of her appearing in blackface and tribal paint.

Dr Pepper 10 -- For Men Only

2011-02-24T11:05:00.004-06:00

A few students have mentioned this commercial, which advertises a diet soda as "not for women."

According to this blog post, diet soda is too girly, so they're upping the man factor.

To be honest, I think the ad has the potential to be funny but doesn't quite get there. Others have thought it's just weird. What's your take? Are they playing with gender binaries and constructions of masculinity/femininity, or endorsing them? Or both? Funny or not?

UPDATE: Des Moines was one of six test cities for the product. See a DM Register blog post here.

Wrestler Defaults Rather Than Face Girl - Des Moines News Story - KCCI Des Moines

2011-02-17T12:39:00.000-06:00

A student calls our attention to this item out of Iowa. A boy defaulted on a wrestling match at the state tournament this morning rather than wrestle a girl. The student points out that the comments below the story reflect binary thinking about gender, which we have discussed in class. What do you all think?

Wrestler Defaults Rather Than Face Girl - Des Moines News Story - KCCI Des Moines

On the Assault of Lara Logan

2011-02-15T20:06:00.003-06:00

Salon has published a poignant piece of media criticism pointing to some offensive statements by bloggers about the sexual assault and beating of CBS reporter Lara Logan while she was covering the protests in Egypt.

Commentators have let fly some sexist, racist remarks about her assault, along the lines of "she's hot" and "they're savages" -- so, you know, she got what was coming to her.

Super Bowl Ad -- What Did You Think?

2011-02-10T11:15:00.008-06:00

From the same student, this commercial, which ran during the Super Bowl:

The student writes:

In this commercial it seems like the wife is punishing her husband for trying to break his "diet." I have two issues with this: One, if this commercial was reversed in the gender roles, it would have never made it to TV. They would never show a man kicking his wife, or shoving her face in a pie. Also, this plays into the angry black woman stereotype.

I, too, found this ad problematic. Other thoughts?

'Hot Latina' Under Construction

2011-02-10T10:53:00.011-06:00

I was wondering if Gloria from Modern Family would come up when we discussed the "hot Latina" stereotype in class. I even had a YouTube clip ready to go. This item on Yahoo!--in which actor Sofia Vergara is seen without makeup--is fascinating on multiple levels. First, it reveals her hair is naturally blond and her skin is fairer than it appears on the show, which is interesting in itself because it shows how the role has been constructed.

In addition, here's what the student says:

This actress plays a hot vamp on the show Modern Family. It's almost like she broke a law because she was out in public without her hot seductress hair and makeup. And regardless of ethnicity, why isn't it okay for a woman to go out in public without her hair and makeup done?

Great point -- it's as if she's breaking character and breaking rules about femininity.

Situating Serena

2011-02-06T19:24:00.009-06:00

In class recently, we read an article by James McKay and Helen Johnson that argues media treatment of tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams is essentially a reinscription of the Hottentot Venus of the 19th century. The argument is that the media eroticize, exoticize, and animalize the Williams sisters' bodies because they can be seen as a threat to white, male dominance.

A student found this photo taken of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, which provides a visual aid for the argument. The white, male gaze of the camera situates Serena's body as "other" by accentuating her breasts and glutes. We are meant to see her as different, threatening, titillating.

This is not to say Serena Williams is not an active participant in media constructions of her. She is. But even that would be in keeping with the story of Saarjite Baartman, who shared some of the profits from her display.

Female Athletes

2011-02-04T15:57:00.002-06:00

A student discovered this video about media coverage of female athletes. It's a relevant topic for college students, many of whom are athletes themselves:

From the same student, here are some guidelines from the Women's Sports Foundation about how journalists can make sure they are covering female athletes fairly. What do you think about the list? Did they miss anything?

Lest we forget ...

2011-02-04T15:51:00.002-06:00

Anyone remember the 2008 election? A student calls attention to this article about news coverage of Hillary Clinton while she was running for the Democratic nomination.

The student says: "I feel this is a good article because it shows how sexism has played a [role] in politics. Had sexism not occurred, perhaps we would have a female president."

Here is a video on the same topic produced by the Women's Media Center:

What do you think?

"I Will Not Be Afraid of Women"

2011-01-27T19:45:00.004-06:00

This is one of my favorite Dar Williams songs, so they had me at hello. The statistics here are solid, so what do they tell us?

'Skins,' Who Wins?

2011-01-27T19:24:00.004-06:00

MTV has a provocative new drama about teenagers doing drugs, having sex, and abusing themselves--and each other--to the point of no return. I haven't seen it, but perhaps others have. Advertisers are scared, so it looks as if the show might be canceled.

David Carr discusses it in a NY Times column:

Now that MTV is back on its heels, you will hear arguments that “Skins” merely describes the world that we already live in. There’s something to that. MTV didn’t invent “friends with benefits,” oral sex as the new kiss or stripper chic as a teenage fashion aspiration.

This argument is common among people in the media industry who disavow responsibility for what they show, but I'm not so sure MTV didn't help create these trends. And the network definitely reinforces them ... right?

A lot of news coverage has focused on whether "Skins" amounts to child pornography, but here Ms. Magazine addresses sexism on the show, which has gotten very little attention. What do you think?

"To Protect Young Shoppers" ... From What?

2011-01-27T19:11:00.005-06:00

From Shakesville ...

The White Face of Cable

2010-06-28T11:37:00.003-05:00

This is interesting -- just don't bother reading the comments. The question posed in the article -- Who would have thought cable commentary would get whiter after the election of a black president? -- is provocative. I don't think it's a coincidence. There are a couple of possible explanations. The more innocent one is that once the nation voted a racial minority into the Oval Office, well-meaning people allowed themselves a sigh of relief and thought: Finally, the war with racism is over. They let up on their efforts to diversify, with the result being a step backward. The other explanation, more insidious, is that white executives in power, even the well-intended ones, feel anxious after the election of a black president, as if the sand is shifting beneath their feet. What do people with some level of anxiety do when they are in a position to hire? They hire those who make them feel comfortable, which usually means hiring people who look or act like they do.

This would be an interesting question to discuss in my next GRC and Media course ...

No Words

2010-03-31T09:59:00.002-05:00

A student just passed along this story from CNN about rape games in Japan.

I'm Digging This Ad Concept

2010-03-18T20:31:00.001-05:00

From The New York Times, via the Women's Media Center.

Kathy Griffin Plays a Lesbian

2010-03-12T13:46:00.004-06:00

This post from Bitch Media makes the important point that it's not enough just to count the number of portrayals marginalized groups are given in popular culture to assess whether they are getting a fair shake. We also have to look at the context and narrative to understand how those groups are truly represented in the culture. Not having seen the episode, I can't speak to this particular critique -- but I will say that Griffin's response to the inevitable "what was it like to kiss a girl" question actually seems quite measured to my ear.

NY Times on Women Scientists

2010-03-10T10:05:00.004-06:00

This article does a nice job of contextualizing the current and historical status of women in the sciences.

Utah Legislators Revise Miscarriage Bill

2010-03-10T10:01:00.003-06:00

This is appalling, but no one should be surprised. It's a logical step in legislators' attempts to control women's reproduction.

Silencing Women ...

2010-01-18T12:04:00.002-06:00

Ad says to "make her speechless--for once."

The Y Factor in Late-Night Comedy

2010-01-11T14:08:00.002-06:00

Leno, Letterman, O'Brien, Fallon, Stewart, Colbert, Kimmel, Ferguson. Where are the women of late-night comedy? They're not just missing in front of the camera; they're also missing in the writers' room. This article explains why -- and makes the argument that the more diverse the writers' room, the funnier the comedy that emerges from it.

More Dove-Like Advertising

2010-01-06T13:56:00.002-06:00

Here is a New York Times article about Special K's marketing strategy for "real" women. Hmm ... I'm of two minds about this. I applaud the company for understanding today's two-way media paradigm (i.e., give your customers a voice rather than handing down prescriptions based on what you think they want). However, the campaign is still aimed at women who are dieting. And the campaign's website, The Victory Project, "features videos of women on a quest to lose weight being coached not just by a dietitian, but by fashion, hair and makeup experts as well."

It would seem Kellogg is focusing on the process of self-improvement, rather than the culture's idealized, and for most women unattainable, result. OK. But isn't it the process of dieting that brings in the money for Kellogg? If women get discouraged by idealized imagery, they give up. If they give up, they won't replace two meals a day with Special K, as the company recommends. I'm not sure this is as progressive as the strategists would like us to believe.

I Wish I Had Known Her

2010-01-04T12:19:00.002-06:00

A nice WaPost article about the late Deborah Howell, a pioneer among women in journalism. According to the article, at one time she had competing nicknames in the newsroom: Mother Mary Deborah and The Dragon Lady. There's no winning the gender-expectations game.

I do find it funny when writers present a subject's physical stature in opposition to her/his (usually her) language: "Small and slender, Ms. Howell 'could curse like a longshoreman.'"

Does it seem as if a lot of trailblazers are dying lately? Sad.

From the 2008 Election

2010-01-04T11:52:00.003-06:00

Whenever I opened this, Hotmail always made sure I really wanted to open it: "This message might be dangerous." Indeed.

Palin's Newsweek Cover

2010-01-04T11:48:00.003-06:00

Just to have it on hand ... sexist or not? My favorite touch is the flag.

Women in Hollywood

2010-01-04T11:39:00.002-06:00

As I empty my inbox of various links I've been saving, here is critic Courtney Young's take on women's film roles in 2009. The upshot: Dead women + Twilight.

Nan Robertson Remembered

2010-01-04T11:32:00.003-06:00

Betsy Wade's piece about Nan Robertson, an extraordinary journalist and author of The Girls in the Balcony, an account of women's landmark anti-discrimination lawsuit against The New York Times.

Women Dominate Online Gaming

2009-12-30T12:18:00.006-06:00

A student of mine--an active gamer himself--wrote a great research paper about female gamers last year. He was surprised to find that women, especially older women, play more than men do. Apparently others are reaching the same conclusion.

One interesting finding is that women underreport their gaming more than men do. (C'mon, girls. Don't be afraid to smash those stereotypes.)

Thanks, Ellen

2009-12-30T12:06:00.003-06:00

Here's a great column by Ellen Goodman looking back on her coverage of the women's movement. Goodman will retire Jan. 1, 2010.

Gender/Transgender Video

2009-12-29T11:38:00.005-06:00

A basic educational video, about 20 minutes long, from the Gender Identity Project:

A Lie by any Other Name ...

2008-09-11T09:41:00.005-05:00

Eric Alterman has a great piece up at Media Matters, which you can see here, where he discusses how the current practices of the mainstream media prevent them from calling a spade a spade—or a lie a lie. In a front-page story written by Jonathan Weisman, The Washington Post tiptoes around the issue of the "L-word," calling it "taboo." The headline on the story refers to "untruths."

This is not surprising to me. The Post, in particular, has a history on this count. As a wee copy editor there years ago, I was told, quite vehemently, that it was a fine choice of words to say a politician was "dissembling"—which, as I had pointed out, simply means "lying." I wondered why we couldn't use the simpler word. "Our readers know what the word dissemble means," the reporter sniffed.

I would imagine the Post's readers also know a lie when they see one.

It is a sad day for journalism when reporters and editors have to consult their mind's thesaurus to say what they know to be true.

Same Old, Same Old

2008-08-20T12:58:00.002-05:00

I have to agree with Marie Cocco on this one, which you can read in full on Alternet here:

I have nothing against Jim Lehrer, executive editor of "The NewsHour" on PBS, or Tom Brokaw of NBC, or Bob Schieffer, the host of CBS' "Face the Nation." But how about a dose of reality? Race and sex already have become flashpoints in this campaign. McCain's age is an issue and Obama is sparking enormous enthusiasm among younger voters. So why are we stuck in a media rut with three white men, the youngest of whom, Brokaw, is 68?

Cocco goes on to mention Christiane Amanpour, Andrea Mitchell, Katie Couric and Gwen Ifill (chosen to moderate the VP debate) as qualified alternatives. Brokaw is retired, for crying out loud! It's obvious Tim Russert would have had that spot, had he still been alive. NBC could have taken the opportunity to increase its diversity—a new perspective! good TV! positive press!—during a year when such issues are very much on everyone's mind. But it didn't.

You might even leave aside race and gender. What does the choice of those three moderators say to those under the age of 40 (who, I might add, will be the most affected by the next president's policies on Social Security, health care and war)? I understand the concepts of seniority and loyalty (although those ideals don't seem to be helping anyone working at a newspaper). I understand that the debate questions might be the same even if the moderators looked different. But sociopolitical power is largely (mostly?) a matter of representation—and based on the choices made here, we can see who still holds the power in this country.

With Dads Like That ...

2008-08-15T10:27:00.002-05:00

This is what Jamie Spears has to say about daughter Britney:

"She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But, like all daughters, she is very manipulative and cunning. So she gets what she wants a lot."

No wonder the girl is a mess. This is her father's view of women?

To Channel 13: Rape Is Not a "Sex Scandal"

2008-08-04T22:26:00.007-05:00

Discussing the recent bad publicity surrounding the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, tonight's sports anchor (not Keith Murphy--another guy) at WHO-TV called this a "major sex scandal."

For those who don't feel like clicking, "this" is the alleged rape of a female athlete at the University of Iowa by two male football players and a third male accomplice, followed by an alleged cover-up, followed by furious reactions from almost the entire state, followed by a reopening of the whole damn investigation by the state board of regents.

"Sex scandal" -- I don't think so.

To be fair, Channel 13 has covered the case pretty well. You can even look at WHO's Web site here for a timeline of events. But still ... gotta watch those words.

McCain: It's Bad Enough He's Black—What if He Were Blond?

2008-07-31T14:00:00.014-05:00

The latest ad from John McCain (or, as my dad calls him, "Maclaine," and I don't think he's trying to be funny):

Ask yourself this: Why use images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to illustrate international superstardom? Why not Brad Pitt? Why not George Clooney? Why not Will Smith? Or, if you're looking for someone with high unfavorable ratings ... Tom Cruise?

Some believe that McCain juxtaposed images of blonde women with Barack Obama to raise the threat of miscegenation—sexuality between races—in a subliminal racist scare tactic. My own analysis is that the McCain campaign wanted to evoke emptiness, stupidity, media manipulation. Hence: blonde women. Because we're, like, so vapid.

Big Circles

2008-07-29T15:57:00.003-05:00

From an article published in 1889 titled "The Intellectual Effects of Electricity":

All men are compelled to think of all things at the same time, on imperfect information, and with too little interval for reflection. ... The constant diffusion of statements in snippets, the constant excitements of feeling unjustified by fact, the constant formation of hasty or erroneous opinions, must in the end, one would think, deteriorate the intelligence of all to whom the telegraph appeals.

Ha. I love stuff like this.

Why Bury Rove?

2008-07-26T20:23:00.004-05:00

Why is this buried in the Metro briefs of today's DM Register?

Four protesters were arrested outside the Wakonda Country Club on Friday in Des Moines when they tried to place a citizens' arrest on former Republican strategist Karl Rove.

Retired minister the Rev. Chet Guinn, 80, was arrested for trespassing, along with three Catholic Workers -- Edward Bloomer, Kirk Brown and Mona Shaw. All four were released after being cited.

So many questions. What was Rove doing at Wakonda? Why was he in town at all? On what grounds were the protesters trying to arrest him—perhaps Rove's defiance of a congressional subpoena? What's the story behind the protesters? How does their faith influence their politics? How did they know where Rove would be? (I also love how the brief refers to him as a former Republican strategist. Um, he's still strategizing—he just doesn't work at the White House anymore.)

But instead of that juicy—and newsworthy—story about a small group of Iowans confronting one of the country's most influential people, on the front page of today's paper we get "Clown Wins Award." Seriously.

Finally!

2008-07-25T12:14:00.002-05:00

Isn't it funny how when women leave the workforce, the know-it-all pundits say it's because they've rediscovered their true calling as mothers, but when men leave the workforce, they say it's for economic reasons?

Finally, a report indicates what most of us already knew: All that business about "security moms" seeking comfort with their homes and families after 9/11 was a bunch of crap. Here are the key graphs from a blog post by Judith Warner of the NY Times (emphasis mine):

This week, Congress issued a report, titled “Equality in Job Loss: Women are Increasingly Vulnerable to Layoffs During Recessions,” that may — if read in its entirety — finally, officially and definitively sound a death knell for the story of the Opt-Out Revolution. The report, commissioned by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, states categorically that mothers are not leaving the workforce to stay home with their kids. They’re being forced out.

Women — all women, mothers or not — were hit “especially hard” hard by the recession of 2001 and the recovery-that-never-really-was, the report states. “Unlike in the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s, during the 2001 recession, the percent of jobs lost by women often exceeded that of men in the industries hardest hit by the downturn. The lackluster recovery of the 2000s made it difficult for women to regain their jobs — women’s employment rates never returned to their pre-recession peak.”

While prior recessions tended to spare women’s jobs relative to men’s, that trend has been reversed in the current downturn, thanks in part to women’s progress in entering formerly male industries and occupations, and in part to the fact that job sectors like service and retail, which still employ disproportionate numbers of women, have suffered disproportionate losses. And this — not a calling to motherhood — accounts for the fall, starting in 2000, of women’s labor force participation rates.

Here We Go

2008-07-21T11:07:00.006-05:00

Just as they did a Hillary Clinton sexism watch, the awesome bloggers at Shakesville are doing an Obama racism watch, where you can see stuff like this:

Seriously. What's the matter with people? I try and I try to understand this. It must be fear, right? The people who peddle this garbage are afraid of The Other, afraid of anyone who doesn't look like their cigar-smoking, back-slapping, red-meat-lovin', boys-will-be-boys uncle ... right?

I finally read What's the Matter with Kansas? this year. The author examines how Republicans get many working-class white people—who are economically disadvantaged by Republican policies—to vote against their financial interests by exploiting cultural disillusionment and fear. I just can't believe people keep falling for it.

The nation as a whole is a thousand times worse off than it was eight years ago. But rather than work collectively to solve the country's problems, these people make a T-shirt calling one party's candidate for the presidency a terrorist. Seriously. Were these people dropped on their heads as children? I really wish I understood this.

Mixed Message of the Day

2008-07-16T09:44:00.005-05:00

I was just about to end my morning blog reading and go about my actual work when I caught this on MSN and couldn't resist a quick screen capture. Ladies, you'll learn how to emphasize your curves AND slim your hips! And look taller! In other words, MSN will teach you how to be both acceptably feminine and boyishly tall and thin. Head ... exploding ... from ... impossible ... standards ...

Coke vs. Pepsi

2008-07-16T08:56:00.004-05:00

I have long found it discouraging that all rational discourse in this country is being reduced to consumerist dichotomies like Coke vs. Pepsi. You know, the way some people argue about which sports team is better: "The Yankees are the best." "No, the Red Sox are." "Your team sucks." "My team is awesome; your team sucks."

There's no reasoning involved; people pick an allegiance for irrational reasons and stick to it without reflection. It becomes part of their identity, as in: I'm a Yankees fan. That's who I am. Or: I'm a Republican/Democrat. That's who I am. In other words: It doesn't matter what that team says or does, whether it's winning or losing, whether it's right or wrong. It's simply a persona that people wear, and they'll defend it no matter what because nobody likes a flip-flopper and admitting to being wrong, at any point in life, is a sign of weakness.

Now it appears the Coke vs. Pepsi framework implicit in political discussion is becoming explicit. Read an article in Salon about Obama's sophisticated data-mining operation here. Grassroots effort, or consumer marketing? The lines are becoming blurred. I'm not sure what this means for future political discourse, but I can't imagine it's good.

Kyle Payne

2008-07-09T22:39:00.005-05:00

Iowa Independent reports that Kyle Payne, 22, a former resident adviser and graduate of Buena Vista University--and self-described feminist and anti-pornography activist--pleaded guilty last week of photographing and filming a drunk, unconscious female student's breasts for his sexual gratification in 2007.

Actually, according to Iowa Independent, police reports indicate Kyle Payne physically assaulted the woman while she was passed out and taped himself doing it; police found the files on his hard drive following a tip and arrested him in February. (I need to mention that the BVU administration was totally on top of this situation and cooperated fully with police. I think they even contacted the police themselves.)

The fact that Kyle Payne got away with a guilty plea to second-degree attempted burglary and invasion of privacy shows what a joke the court system can be. But this is not really the point.

The point is what Kyle Payne says about himself on his blog:

Kyle is a social justice educator, writer, and activist. Much of his work is concerned with putting a stop to violence against women. For years Kyle has served as an advocate for survivors of sexual violence and other forms of abuse, in addition to promoting what he calls 'a more just and life-affirming culture of sexuality' through activism and education.

Jeff Fecke at Shakesville writes poignantly about how dirtbags like this screw things up for all men who call themselves feminists, dredging up the inevitable question: Can men really be feminist allies? Personally, I know they can. I'm married to one. But still, stuff like this makes me sick.

UPDATE: Said feminist-ally-hubby points out that accused people like Kyle Payne work really hard to plea down their charges so they don't have to put their names on the Sex Offender Registry. Hence the attempted-burglary charge. Again showing how the criminal justice system is often a joke. Kyle Payne is white. Would his lawyers have been so successful in getting a plea bargain if he were black or Latino? I think not.

What Comes After

2008-07-08T21:13:00.005-05:00

Mindy McAdams has a great post here about the future of journalism. She basically says newspapers are dying, the old business model of news is broken, and if only the best minds in journalism would get together and stop debating this reality, they might come up with an online model that works.

My worry is that the best minds are leaving journalism—or at least striking out on their own, as this new Web site encourages—because their longtime employers showed them so little loyalty and regard and just messed things up generally in order to spit out unbelievable profits year after year. So my hunch is that whatever new model rises to the top won't come from one of the old giants. I don't know if newspapers will go away completely, but I do know a new business model for journalism will emerge. I just don't know where it will come from.

The Reformation

2008-06-26T14:36:00.007-05:00

Jay Rosen published a fantastic piece on his blog today (which you can find here), describing how the landscape of journalism has fundamentally changed. He uses the metaphor of migration, describing old-media types as "reluctant migrants" who must leave their familiar terrain for a strange, new land. Rosen sounds the death knell for the traditional, top-down, "one-to-many" news model and describes a new way:

Across the digital divide the conditions for doing journalism are quite different. I’ll give you the highlights. Communication is two-way, and many-to-many. Horizontal sharing is as important as top-down messaging. Readers have become writers and the people formerly known as the audience are flourishing as content producers, expert sharers and self-guided consumers.

I've been tossing around another metaphor in my head for what's going on here. Could this be a Reformation? An Information Reformation?

Back in the 16th century, people of faith got sick of the Roman Catholic Church making all the rules, restricting who had access to Scripture, claiming people needed an intermediary (e.g., the pope) to have a relationship with God. All this while selling indulgences and engaging in myriad other acts of corruption and silliness. Wait a minute, people said (Martin Luther notably among them). Can't we just talk to God ourselves? Can't we share information among ourselves? Can't we read the Bible ourselves instead of allowing it to be filtered by people who obviously have a self-interest in what they preach? Thus, the Protestant Reformation. One-way, one-to-many communication became two-way, many-to-many communication.

So maybe we're witnessing another Reformation of sorts. The Internet Reformation. Just a thought.

Book report

2008-06-17T14:19:00.002-05:00

I'm reading this book called Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. It's amazing. Totally perspective-changing. LeBlanc, a journalist, followed a family in the South Bronx for about 15 years (I think–I'm not finished yet), and this is the story of their lives. Simple concept, but the result is fascinating. She tells it straight. She just hung out with members of an extended family for a long time, kept interviewing them over and over, and used court documents and secondary sources to corroborate what they said.

It's a story of poverty, drugs, family, street life—especially notable is how gender, race, and class intersect and create these dynamics that are so hard to unravel. What I love is that the author suspends judgment. The book is all description. I highly recommend it. You'll never look at urban poverty the same way again.

'Sex' and the Feminist

2008-06-17T14:03:00.003-05:00

Saw Sex and the City. Loved the TV show. Guilty pleasure.

As a moviegoer, I enjoyed it. I was entertained. I appreciate a movie (and TV show) whose central characters are multidimensional women in their 40s. Hollywood needs more female representation, on- and off-screen. It was funny.

But as an academic, I thought: Really? I'm tired of the message that fairy tales really do come true, as long as women lower their standards. Trust me, the film is explicit about this. Also: Another one-dimensional "magical negro" character who, with her earthy, keep-it-real honesty, saves the damaged white woman from her cynicism? Sarah Jessica Parker's character actually says to Jennifer Hudson's character: "Thank you. You saved my life." Before Jennifer Hudson goes back to the 'hood (where apparently she belongs) and marries her old sweetheart.

So. Go see the movie, enjoy it, but don't expect any new ground to be broken. It's, ahem, hardly a feminist consolation prize for Hillary not getting the nomination, as some pundits—seriously—suggested. It's not a feminist film. But that doesn't mean feminists can't enjoy it.

WMC Video

2008-05-27T12:21:00.003-05:00

Greatest hits from this primary season, compiled by the Women's Media Center:

Let her play!

2008-05-27T12:01:00.002-05:00

An interesting item: A 12-year-old girl was banned from playing in the boys' basketball league she had been playing in since second grade because she was embarrassing the boys with her average 30 points a game. The parents of the opposing teams said their boys weren't playing their best against her because they were afraid of hurting a girl, but this seems unlikely since the girl is 6-foot-1 and can take a charge with the best of them.

Go to Feministing here for more of the story and a video clip.

My favorite part of the whole clip is when one of her teammates—who all support her—says he loves playing with her because "her greatness sprinkles over all of us." Love that kid!

Oh, Misogyny

2008-05-22T21:39:00.004-05:00

A couple of days ago, the Today show (the frustration helps me wake up in the morning) did a segment on whether sexism has been a factor in Hillary Clinton's impending defeat in the primary. They missed the point. They ignored all the violent, horrifying images and language that have been thrown at Clinton -- and, by proxy, at women like me -- and asked the stale, go-nowhere question: Is the country ready for a female president?

For answers, let's page through my campaign scrapbook.

Funny political cartoon about how Hillary Clinton is really a dude, and people in Kentucky are racist:

This is a double feature: Hillary Clinton is shrill (because she dares to speak publicly), and she's a psycho -- she hears voices in her head!

This one isn't as gross; it just doesn't make sense. Here is a photo of Clinton—because, hey, she's a woman—used to illustrate a story about mindless eating when the story doesn't even mention her. Also, what she's probably doing there, eating some famous pie at some diner on the campaign trail so as not to offend the locals, is actually the opposite of mindless.

This is horrifying on several levels. "I wish Hillary had been *murdered* by a black man, not just defeated by one in a presidential race" -- hiLARious! Oh yeah, and it's a T-shirt now.

This guy should be banned from CNN:

For more on the sexist punditocracy, see Eric Boehlert's collection of greatest hits on AlterNet here. Perhaps my fave: Tucker Carlson saying that when Clinton appears on TV, "I involuntarily cross my legs."

The awesome bloggers at Shakesville have been diligent about their "Hillary Sexism Watch". They're up to 100 incidents. Check it out.

This pro-Obama music video is horrifying on many levels:

If you still doubt, check out these clips (and ignore the Jeremiah Wright message at the end; I don't condone that):

The biggest problem with all of this is that mainstream journalists have said virtually nothing about any of it. My question: Why is this OK with people?

Deconstructing "Today"

2008-04-17T10:25:00.005-05:00

Gotta love it. This morning, in a running feature about "momtrepreneurs" (the media's oh-so-clever name for female business owners who happen to have children), NBC illustrated the segment with a Wizard of Oz clip in which Dorothy recites what NBC apparently thinks is every woman's mantra: "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."

I am not making this up.

NBC producers used Dorothy—yes, the fictional, fickle girl who fails to embrace her God-given passivity, has big ideas about running away into the big bad world, and is reminded via fantasy that she should damn well be content with what she has at home instead of harboring these grand illusions—to illustrate today's working woman.

The person they profiled as part of their stay-at-home series? The former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, Monique Greenwood, who opened a B&B and restaurant in Brooklyn while still at the magazine and now owns five inns around the country. A real homebody, that one!

This segment is a perfect example of how the mainstream media will shoehorn any woman's experience into a preconstructed, unexamined narrative that delivers gender prescriptions while claiming to report the facts.

At times, the producers' script directly contradicted the subject's own words. Let's examine:

Meredith Viera: "For one woman, the tug between a full-time job and spending time at home just became too stressful."

Monique Greenwood: "I absolutely loved my job at the magazine."

Me: Owning and operating five B&Bs isn't a full-time job?

Meredith Viera: "Making beds and scrambling eggs weren't always on her list of favorite things to do, but as the full-time [Me: A-ha!] owner of five bed-and-breakfast inns around the country, now they are part of her daily reality."

Monique Greenwood: "I've been able to combine my personal passions with my work. What was my part-time hobby is now my full-time career."

Me: Wow, that's amazing that she cooks and cleans at five B&Bs around the country every day. Does Glinda the good witch help her with that?

Sound bite from Greenwood's daughter: Yeah, it's great. I get to see my mom more.

Meredith Viera: Yes! Yes! That's all we're saying. Monique can be a good mom now, whereas she couldn't before, with that other career. Now that she's only a business owner—excuse me, momtrepreneur—she can nurture other people, which is what women are best at, anyway.

Ask yourself this: If Greenwood were a man, would the story have been told the same way? That he really struggled to work and have a family, and that his decision to become a business owner was all about spending more time at home?

No. If Greenwood were a man, the narrative would have said he wanted freedom, he wanted to be his own boss, so he changed careers—which is all Greenwood did. She didn't leave the high-powered workforce to stay at home—she changed careers. So report it that way.

(See a New York Times article about Greenwood, the editor, here, in which the reporter managed to address the rising competition among magazines marketed primarily to black women without imagining a catfight between Greenwood and Oprah. Way to go, NYT! The article also discusses Greenwood's investment in the old building in Brooklyn that became her first B&B.)

Truth and consequences

2008-04-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

Robert Niles at Online Journalism Review has a good post here. Here's some of what he says:

The Internet has returned us to life in a small frontier town, where everyone knows everyone else's business.
Want to stay out of trouble? Then watch what you say in public. Watch what you say around people you believe to be your friends. Instead of unleashing your id 24/7, communicate with intent instead. [...]
Cut a kid a break for something stupid on Facebook, then teach your own kids, students and young colleagues how better to conduct themselves online.
There is no off or on the record anymore. It's all gonna end up there.

This is something I struggle with. I have accepted that I need to have an online presence professionally (and personally, too -- I have relatives all over who want to know what my little boy is up to, and the only way to do that, really, is online), but it's hard for me to give up the little moat of privacy I have constructed around my life. Information that, as a kid, I was taught never to ask someone (money, politics, religion) is now available online. And it will always be available online.

It will be harder for people who commit crimes or simple mistakes to escape their past. Take those girls who maliciously beat another girl unconscious and put it on You Tube, for instance. They might as well go to prison for a very long time -- who would hire them after that?

How can we convince our kids and students they need to be extra-cautious in the virtual world? The "future consequences" argument is always a hard one to sell to young people. Any ideas?

2008-04-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

This, in today's "Your 2 Cents' Worth" in the D.M. Register:

Wanted: Good home for pre-menopausal wife. Crabby, know-it-all disposition. Gets along well with kids. Still cooks and cleans and very well maintained, a suburban beauty. Will consider return in five to seven years.
—Pleasant Hill man

This, perhaps, in tomorrow's paper:

Wanted: Reality check for prehistoric husband. Bigoted, obnoxious disposition. Gets along well with no one. Has a retro sense of entitlement and never leaves his recliner, a suburban sloth. No returns.
—Every woman you know

One can hope.

Spring ... finally

2008-04-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

Will this work? I dunno. Here's my little video experiment. Music is "Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin.

(Mis)use of Photoshop

2008-03-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

I apologize to anyone who already knows this story. I am four years late to the party, but I think this is exactly the kind of ethical issue that we, as a media-dominated society, need to be discussing. I wasn’t living here during the last presidential election, when a Web site called IowaPresidentialWatch.com—which, ironically, claimed to be protecting the public from John Kerry’s propaganda—ran this graphic.

The thing is, the photo had been doctored. Here’s the original, taken in 2004 by Damir Sagolj of Reuters and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize:

The photo shows a U.S. medic holding an Iraqi child who had been shot—in an attack that killed her mother and wounded her father. But apparently this child did not quite illustrate the artist's political message, which was that American soldiers provide security to Iraqi children. Thus, the political graphic shows the face of a totally different child who, it seems, could muster up an expression more closely resembling gratitude, or at least well-being. Additionally, some blood has been removed from the child’s clothing, and some kind of medical device that was near the child’s neck has been removed.

Think about that for a minute. This child's suffering—her loss of a parent, her injuries, her terror—meant so little to the artist that she felt free to superimpose a different child, one who had a more neutral expression and a healthier glow, to score a political point. What a dehumanizing act, to simply erase a child's face when that child's experience doesn't serve your political purpose.

I have no doubt that the woman who designed the image would say the child's suffering is the whole point—that's why we Americans are in Iraq, to prevent that kind of suffering. So to the extent that this political message serves that purpose, it's helping the cause; it's preventing more children from suffering, which makes it OK. That's how her argument would go.

But here's the issue: Who has a right to that image? Is it our right as artists, as communicators, to exploit and alter someone else's photograph of someone else's suffering in someone else's country for the purposes of an American presidential campaign? To say this child, who just watched her mother die and is living through a war that Americans started, is "glad" Americans are there?

If you want to read more about this photo and graphic, check out PR Watch here and Daily Kos here.