Blog #3

For this week’s assignment, I decided to analyze one of my all-time favorite episodes of one of my all-time favorite television shows, Scrubs. In this fifth season episode entitled My Musical, the patient has a brain aneurysm and consequently hears everyone around her singing rather than talking. The writers of the show took this opportunity to write some hilarious songs, but when the lyrics of these songs are analyzed they seem to function as both minoritizing and universalizing discourses. In the song entitled “Guy Love”, Turk and J.D. profess their “guy love” feelings for one another. The first verse is as follows:

[J.D.] Let's face the facts about me and you, a love unspecified. Though I'm proud to call you "Chocolate Bear," the crowd will always talk and stare.
[Turk] I feel exactly those feelings, too, and that's why I keep them inside. 'Cause this bear can't bear the world's disdain, and sometimes it's easier to hide..
[J.D. and Turk] than explain our guy love, that's all it is, guy love, he's mine, I'm his, there's nothing gay about it in our eyes.

This verse both minoritizes and universalizes in several ways. It universalizes by shattering the norm that two men cannot have a tender and loving friendship like two women can without being perceived as gay or overly feminized. The two men are saying that just because they have a loving friendship does not mean that they are gay or that this should be considered abnormal or wrong. However, this verse also minoritizes by relying on the notion that two men who have a close and loving relationship are in fact abnormal, and associate homosexuality with negativity by saying that its easier to keep their feelings inside and hide them rather than be ridiculed by others because they act “gay”.

Another song in the episode entitled “I’m Dominican”, demonstrates the use of both minoritizing and universalizing discourses. Below is a few lines from the song:

[Turk] The thing is guys remember facts, like what Derek Jeter hit last year, which was three-oh-three! And that is why our brains are maxed, and there's no room for things like birthdays or ethnicities!
[Carla] Well, thank you for that glimpse into the workings of the inner man.

Here, we can see how Turk minoritizes by demonstrating a gender stereotype about men and how they are all forgetful of “feminine” things such as birthdays, because their brains are maxed out with manly sports-related information. However, Carla responds sarcastically to her husband, which would not be described as feminine or the norm for the female gender. According to norms, Carla would be considered a marginalized subject, being both female and Latino. In this scene, however, they give Carla a very strong voice. For example, in the beginning of the song, Carla demonstrates her power over her husband:

[Turk] Babe, you know I know the truth
[Carla]Well, I need a little proof, so list all you know about me, or no sex again.

As described above, this episode both minoritizes and universalizes in various ways. However, I believe that the show as a whole acts as a mostly universalizing discourse by successfully demonstrating multiculturalism, which Kellner accurately describes in his article:
“Multiculturalism affirms the worth of different types of culture and cultural groups, claiming, for instance, that black, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay and lesbian, and other oppressed and marginal voices have their own validity and importance,” (Kellner, 11).

J.D. breaks through gender and sexuality norms by being a very feminine, straight man. Turk breaks through racial norms and stereotypes by being considered a highly successful doctor. Eliot contradicts the “dumb blonde” norm by also being considered a intelligent doctor. Carla breaks through Latino stereotypes by being portrayed as a very successful and intelligent nurse. Eliot and Carla also contradict norms of women by demonstrating a “buddy” friendship, like Thelma and Louise, which Mayne describes is a typically male relationship, (Mayne, 164). Overall, the cast is very diverse and contradict social norms of today's society.

Works Cited:

Brown, Adriane. "Transgeneration." University Hall, Ohio State University. 8 July 2010. Lecture.

Kellner, Douglas. “Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture.” In Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Sage Publications. 2003. 9-20.

Blog #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U&feature=related

The above video is from the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign, funded by the Dove self-esteem fund. The goal of this campaign was to prove to consumers how unreasonable female image and beauty expectations are in modern society. The video begins with a very average looking woman coming into a salon for a makeover. Next, beauty experts do her hair and makeup and make her look much more attractive according to today's beauty standards. Next, they snap a photograph of her all "done up" and then edit this snapshot on photoshop. It is in this editing stage that the viewer sees just how absurdly distorted today's magazine images are.
This video engages with the idea of the gendered gaze in various ways. (PowerPoint, 06/29/10) First, they use the makeup and hair techniques to make the woman look much more soft and feminine, and to cover up all of her blemishes and other imperfections. Next, to make her absolutely perfect and to "fix" all of her other "unideal" characteristics that cannot be hidden or changed with makeup, they use photoshop. They increase the size of her lips to make them look more luscious, they elongate her neck to make her look longer, thinner, and daintier, they smooth out her skin to make it look softer, they trim the edges of her neck and shoulders to again make her appear thinner, they soften her square jaw to make it look more rounded and feminine, and lastly they increase the size of her eyes to make her look "doe-eyed", vulnerable and inviting.
All of these edits that were made both reinforce and intensify the imbalance of power between genders and the belief that women are inferior and that they exist so that men have the satisfaction of being able to gaze at them. (PowerPoint, 6/29/10) The video explicitly engages with the ideas surrounding body size by taking an already thin and healthy looking woman, and using computer editing software to make her face appear even thinner than it already is. This plays into Bordo's argument that advertisements are never 'just bodies' and that they exist to make a statement about the values of our culture: in this instance, femininity, thinness, and beauty. (PowerPoint, 6/29/10) (Bordo)
Dove's purpose of creating this video and this campaign was to show viewers that our expectations of beauty today are highly distorted and unrealistic because the magazine advertisements that we refer to as a guideline for what is beautiful are distorted themselves. The video plays into the ideas surrounding the internalized gaze, and questions and challenges the unfair beauty expectations that women put on themselves. (PowerPoint, 6/30/10) The video also explicitly challenges consumerism as a way of achieving hegemonic beauty ideals by promoting natural beauty as the ultimate ideal. Buying and using the "proper beauty products" to make yourself look more beautiful and feminine is portrayed in the video as not only unnecessary but possibly even ultimately damaging to the self-esteem of women in our society. Using this video, Dove is disputing the unrealistic beauty standards of women in today's society as well as objecting to the relationship that has formed between femininity and consumption. (PowerPoint, 6/30/10).

Bordo, Susan. Twilight Zones: The Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato to
O.J. N.p.: University of California Press, 1997. Print.
Brown, Adriane. "The Body and the Gendered Gaze." University Hall, Ohio State
University. 29 June 2010. Lecture.
Brown, Adriane. "What Not to Wear and the Internalized Gaze." University Hall, Ohio State University. 30 June 2010. Lecture.

Blog #1: Question #1 and #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay9BWM8lwOA

When you analyze the lyrics of the late rapper 2Pac's hit song Changes, it is easy to recognize that his intention in this song was to touch on the issues of racism that still exist in today's society. The lyrics relate directly to Lull's descriptions of hegemony, which he defines as "the power or dominance that one social group holds over others," (Lull, 61). The lyrics of the song emphasize the inequality that exists between whites and blacks and how economic status differences play a key role in how and why these inequalities continue to persist today. In the following verse, 2Pac very powerfully describes how the societal systems are set up so that the norms and stereotypes that revolve around blacks and black culture are able to persist:
"Cops give a damn about a negro. Pull the tirgger kill a nigga he's a hero. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare. First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal the brothers. Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other. It's time to fight back, that's what Huey said. Two shots in the dark now Huey's dead. I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes; learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers."
Like 2Pac, Lull also recognizes the problem with these perpetual processes of racism and inequality: "The dominant class sets the limits- mental and structural- within which subordinate classes 'live' and make sense of their subordination in such a way as to sustain the dominance of those ruling over them," (Lull, 62). Hegemony has unfairly caused people to become too comfortable with these racist views and actions that many claim as the norms of society. It has "allow[ed] groups privileged by norms to maintain and gain social power," (PowerPoint) and has therefore caused injustice toward minority groups. In Changes, 2Pac urges his listeners to change the way our society functions, and claims that it is essential to create more fair and equal societal norms in order to make our country a peaceful place.
While I would say that Changes is definitely successful and effective in exposing the corruption and racism within our society, I think it is important to also consider the negative consequences that this song could possibly have. 2Pac was clearly not trying to cover up the truth about his own race's negative behavior in modern society, but due to this attempt to "keep it real," (Rose) some could argue that he actually ended up endorsing some of the racist norms that he is arguing against. This is demonstrated in the line "it ain't a secret don't conceal the fact the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks."
I definitely do not believe that 2Pac would have ever intended for these lyrics to be interpreted as him dissing his own race, so this could possibly tie into the idea of critics taking lyrics too literally, (Rose, 37). When 2Pac says, "I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black, my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch," this could be misinterpreted as him saying that he hates himself because he is black and that it is okay to steal when you're hungry. In reality, this line is meant to demonstrate 2Pac's frustrations with the negative stereotypes associated with his race.
Overall, I think Changes is an extremely powerful song that 2Pac wrote to contest the negative norms and stereotypes associated with blacks. When the song is interpreted correctly, I believe it has the ability to get people to open their eyes and their minds to the realities of the prejudices that exist in today's society in order to put a stop to them.

Citations:
Brown, Adriane. "Masculinity and Privilege." University Hall, Ohio State University. 23 June 2010. Lecture.

Brown, Adriane. "Hegemony and Femininity in Popular Culture." University Hall, Ohio State University. 22 June 2010. Lecture.

Lull, James. “Hegemony.” In Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Eds. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. Sage Publications. 2003. 61-66.

Rose, Tricia. 2008. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip-Hop and Why It Matters. Basic Civitas Books.