Nicole Arbour is a Youtube personality that has found herself in headlines on more than one occasion. Famously, her video titled “Dear Fat People,” garnished viral media attention, responses from fellow Youtubers who were angered and disgusted, and from millions of views, comments, and shares on the video. Upon looking it up, I learned that […]
The Call of Duty games that have been some of the most popular video games released in the past 10 years are extremely problematic because of their portrayal of Muslim people. In her piece “Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Racialization of Labor in World of Warcraft”, Lisa Nakamura’s notion of racialization in […]
After reading Sandoval’s chapter on semiotics, I searched for a commercial to put it into conversation with. One of the first companies that came to mind for me was AXE body spray. They’ve certainly had some interesting commercials, but the one that I stumbled upon actually surprised me in terms of the messages it seems […]
In Rodriguez’s Intro to Queer Futures, the opening sentences are about a move towards “another kind of sexual future.” They say, “It is sexual in the queerest of ways, meant to inspire intense feeling rather than reproduction; it is multisensory, asynchronic, polysemous, perverse, and full of promise.” This reminded me of the film Married to […]
The film (A)Sexual focused on the formation of the group “AVEN,” which aims to promote the visibility and education of asexuality in the mainstream. What was apparent in the film was the desire to categorize or quantify the group in order to promote solidarity. Categorization of a group, however, can be destructive to the goals […]
The Superbowl’s commercials are almost as highly anticipated as the game itself. This year, Budweiser ran an ad focussed around the journey of a one of its founders from Ireland to the United States. One of the greatest myths provided in the advertisement is when the immigrant’s visa is stamped, as the clerk states “Welcome […]
From what I gathered about Spivak’s arguments regarding the subaltern, she is investigating the ways in which Western, dominant identities observe and then reach (often prejudice, racist) conclusions about groups that are deemed “other.” She seemed most interested in the fact that the dominant group finds a way to speak over the subaltern about their […]
In hooks’ “Living by a Love Ethic”, hooks discusses the very positive notion of living by a love ethic and practicing qualities that would make not only your own life more fulfilling, but positively affect the lives of others. The chapter also delves into some ways in which love is represented in media in a […]
Spivak’s argument in “Can the Subaltern Speak” is a challenge for allies to recognize their privilege in being heard, and not silence the oppressed in their allyship. Oftentimes, particularly in white activist communities, speak out can be synonymous with speak for. We try to understand foreign struggles by defining them in our own cultural terms. […]
Beyoncé’s hit song from 2014 (wow it does not feel that long ago!), “Pretty Hurts,” is a song about the dangers/self esteem issues that come with the beauty standards that are placed on women. Many of the lyrics point out the ways in which beauty standards contradict themselves, forcing women into a corner. Women must […]
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