Cultural Criticism And The Multicultural Analysis Of Pop Culture

The misogynistic treatment of women in commercialized rap has become a widespread phenomenon which as a result has become commonly accepted by majority of the individuals in society. Rappers, in general, nowadays use women in their videos in a way which is both derogatory and exploiting. Black men in today’s society, especially in the entertainment industry, do not see women as their equals; rather they objectify them as being nothing more than sex objects. People in the Hip Hop industry do not believe that sexism and misogyny is as big of a deal as racism, thus they push this issue to the side by simply ignoring it and learning to accept it. This misogynistic portrayal of women is ruining the image if Hip Hop as both an industry and a form of expressive art. However, instead of taking action against this atrocity, many women simply believe that the images of women and their portrayal in rap videos does not represent nor refer to them as an individual and the type of woman they truly are. By being silent these women are allowing themselves to be victimized by the men of not only the Hip Hop industry but also general society. By not having a say in this matter of the false classification and portrayal of women, they are voluntarily allowing men to do whatever they please to do so, in any given time and with any approach they feel is necessary. They do not

Tannen begins her essay with the description of three different women, marking each of them in their own way and finishing that sequence by explaining that there is nothing to be marked of the men. Throughout the entirety of the essay she explains how society puts pressure on women and that the markings aren 't only on the female appearance but with the names they identify with, and even genetically. In the essay by Bell Hooks, Hooks immediately jumps into the controversy. She states that race and ethnicity “spice up” the norm of culture in today’s society by metaphorically voicing that “eating the Other” establishes power and privilege. In order for the white supremacists to keep order and control they must first exploit the Others, based on Hooks essay racist domination is inevitable and a mutual recognition for racism was required for any form of legitimate interaction without denial and a sense of fantasy.

Whiteness and racism comes from the oppression, colonization and systems of dominance over black people and their feelings. In this case, an intersectional feminist analysis matters because women who are able bodied, cis-gendered, privileged and white are only being considered whereas bell hooks argue that men, women and trans people who oppressed should be fought for. And Peggy McIntosh adds onto this but a white woman who addresses and recognizes her privilege to help other white individuals understand what they have and blacks do not.

She argues that black female spectators neither wish to identify with a white woman subject objectified by the “male gaze” nor identify with a black male perpetrator of this “male gaze”. hooks asserts that black men, unconcerned with gender, were able to “repudiate the reproduction of racism in cinema…even as they could feel as though they were rebelling against white supremacy by daring to look”, specifically at white women (118). By being allowed to look at white women, black male spectators were able to ignore inherent racism in cinema in order to participate in a form of the “male gaze”, hooks states. Because black female spectators were unwilling or unable to ignore both the racism and sexism of this “gaze”, hooks states that “black female spectators construct a theory of looking relations where cinematic visual delight is the pleasure of interrogation” (126). While black female viewers may not take pleasure in the film narrative, hooks argues that through the “oppositional gaze” they are able to take pleasure in resisting this narrative

Through this book, the most important point she puts emphasis on is the acknowledgment of the complex interlocking of classism, racism and sexism. Bell Hooks is not a poor working-class any more,

Another reason I believe Black culture appropriation is a problem is the simple fact that “Everyone wants to be black until it’s time to be black.” Those who enjoy and partake in black culture are silent when it comes to their problems and issues. They seem to be able to “switch” back and forth from black with dances and styles, to white when problems arise. In our society, White people don 't have to deal with their people being ruthlessly killed every other day. We have to teach our children how to talk to officers so they come home safe. A tweet by black artist, Azealia Banks said: “It’s funny to see some people like Igloo Australia (Iggy Azalea) silent when things happen (police brutality). Black culture is cool, but black issues sure aren’t , huh?” White celebrities that are in the hip-hop genre and “adopted blackness never spoke about the racism that goes along with blackness.” They wear black hairstyles, partake in black dances, and listen to black artists, but never have to deal with their people being murdered in the streets.

bell hooks, renowned black feminist and cultural critic criticizes the lack of racial awareness in her essay, Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination (1992). ‘bell hooks’ is written in lower case to convey that the substance of her work reigns more important than the writer. From a marginalized perspective, hooks argues that sites of dominance, not otherness is problematic and critiques the lack of attention that white scholars pay to the representation of whiteness in the black imagination. Critical feminist scholars Peggy McIntosh and Ruth Frankenberg identify their own whiteness as a dominant discourse, but share a critical departure from hooks with the notion of whiteness as terror. hooks aim is not to reverse racism, but discuss her position to authentically inform readers about how she experiences racism. Furthermore, systems of oppression are manufactured by human thought and thus the site of the Other is always produced as a site of difference. Gender, race, sex, class, disability, and geography are situated differently in social structure, but dominant groups assume they share the same reality though they cannot experience it. In consequence, the Other cannot hold a singularized identity of their own and the binary structure succeeds in containing racialized bodies in place. What happens to those bodies when they cross boundaries of the binary? hooks recounts being routinely disciplined back into place when crossing the border; however, dominant white

It’s no secret that since the beginning of America’s history, media has played a huge role in how we perceive people, especially in Hollywood. For instance, the majority of box office hits over the last century have featured all white casts. Yet the ones predominantly featuring African Americans, rarely become a box office success. I believe that racism and white supremacy in the media are so entangled into the core of America’s culture that they have become virtually unrecognizable. We as the consumers don’t even realize that having these images constantly being thrown at us is hurting people. The fact that since the Civil Rights Act over 50 years ago we are still fighting for equality, says a lot about just how far we still have to

A fraternity and a sorority at UCLA were suspended in 2015 for throwing a “Kanye Western” themed party in which the students were accused of wearing blackface as part of their costumes. Obviously, there is a zero-tolerance policy to those kinds of antics at a university, however, it only shows that today’s culture is far from distancing itself from one of the oldest and most severe forms of racism. Blackface minstrelsy was one of the first American forms of entertainment and it provided a lens through which white America began to view black America in a harmful way. Decades later, hip hop emerged as a way to express resentment towards social oppression, it gave black people a sense of identity and culture through music. Although hip hop

Hooks coins the term “sexist silencing,” which happens with the tacit complicity of audiences who have over time learned to think always of race within blackness as a male thing and to assume that the real political leaders will always be male. Because of this, the political discourse on race and feminism suffers. Hooks thinks that extreme expression of sexism made visible becomes a dysfunctional response to racism rather than a perspective that exists independent and dependent with racism. As a result of this way of thinking, black males are enabled to assume no direct responsibility for the politics of sexism – which in reality does not have its origin in racist aggression. The way of thinking of our society needs to change according to Hooks, because black females subjugation is seen as natural and the status quo, not something that black men create, just exploit.

A chronologically ordered format gives the audience context of how feminism developed so they can understand −−where it stands today. After Hooks discusses the effects of feminism in the early 70s with the help of an anecdote, she proceeds to write about what happens to the movement later on. “As more women begin to opportunistically lay claim to feminism in the 80s without undergoing the feminist consciousness-raising…” (16). In the 80s more divisions between feminists came up due to differences in class and some walked away from feminism. What happened in the 80s is then connected to present day.

You did a great job defining this idea. Spectacular consumption is when hip hop and its “authenticity” becomes involved with a capitalist society and is thus, artists are encouraged to continue to self-promote themselves as thugs and women as “sluts,” which then, seems to glamorize this lifestyle. This may be why white audiences appreciate black culture more than they do black bodies, as the listener comfortably learns about the street life, while remaining unaffected by it, in which you refer to as “white fascination” as well as what you call the “white gaze.” The strategic marketing skills involved include providing the audience with what they want to hear in order to confirm their biases and stereotypes about black people from the projects,

In the Bell Hooks’ interview with Carrie Weems there is discussion regarding the nuances of the Black perspective portrayed in her work. In particular, there is focus on how Weems creates the Black female subject within the Kitchen Table series by showcasing a double perspective of not only race, but also gender to exhibit universal concerns in conjunction with those that are unique to African Americans. To accomplish this is said to difficult due to the fixation on race that tends to overshadow any other message conveyed due to perception of critics, who are mostly Caucasian (Hooks 421). To create the Black female subject is to create defiance towards established perceptions. In the interview, Hooks references the Kitchen Table series where

Hooks asserts how stereotypes about African-American women are plagued within the feminist system, as many women of color endure a form of

According to Wilkerson, “From the beginning, television, the image mill for the mainstream has not known what to do with black characters. It has struggled, as has the country, to find a place for them that white Americans could find comforting and digestible from the safe distance of their living rooms. Reality had nothing to do with it.” The media has portrayed black characters as nothing more than, buffoons, hustlers, pimps, and prostitutes.