You Should Care About That Homeless Man Sleeping on the Side of the Road...Because He is Like You

Hello there everyone and happy first official weekend of Autumn!
There's so many fall festivities to attend to before the weather begins freezing us all in as it does every winter here in Colorado (I want to put on my fake Ugg boots and knock-off North Face jacket just thinking about it!) Speaking of events however, last weekend I found myself in Downtown Denver for Oktoberfest which has been going on for about a week there now. Of course, I'm talking Downtown Denver as in near Coors Field where it seems impossible to walk without seeing at least one or two homeless folks watching you stroll past pretending not to notice them.

I bring up this seemingly random observation because I know it's something we've all experiences, if not in Downtown Denver, maybe in another place. Seattle stands out in my mind as a place I remember seeing homeless people with cardboard signs and sad stories the most. I remember I was about 10 or 11 at the time and the fact there were people without a home and I was actually walking past them, being told to ignore them like everyone else walking by made me feel guilty. But above anything else, it was uncomfortable.

We have all heard stories about homeless people, am I right? They're lazy beggars, drunkards, drug addicts, and con artists.They're only going to use that $5 you were just stupid enough to give them to go buy another pack of cigarettes, or put it towards their next meth purchase.
But are they? And why do we just assume this about a man on the street we've never met? Why do we judge so harshly and separate ourselves from him? Why is that lady living under the bridge any different from me? How do we know she has never been in the exact job, earning the same salary, living in the same cozy 2-bedroom home that I live in?

A few weeks go on Facebook I came across a video produced by Rethink Homelessness, and organization raising awareness of homeless people in Florida and produces content to try and change the way this marginalized group is though about in society (For more info check out http://rethinkhomelessness.org/).

A marginalized group consists of people that are denied access to most, if not all, participation and representation in society. They have no say in how they are represented because they aren't allowed to speak for themselves. When you think about it, homeless people are undeniably marginalized. Don't think so? Have you ever heard someone say "homeless people just need to get a job." Well, most people are deprived of  the means to even attain an interview for a job, much less the job itself. When you go to a job interview, you want to come across as hygienic, professional, and competent. You do this by taking a shower, brushing your teeth, ironing your dress pants or skirt, and printing off a nice, crisply typed up resume from your computer. All of these things you do to prepare for an interview, well it would be a miracle for a homeless person to even gain access to a dependable shower. They are materially deprived because they lack the resources (and by resources I mean money, money, and oh yeah, money) that most of us do. Even if we don't consider ourselves "rich", we have access to health care, dependable food resources, a roof over our heads to keep out that cold weather I referred to earlier.

Therefore, it's unfair of us to ignore our privilege and tell those without the privilege's we have that they need to better themselves without the means to do so. The vast majority of  people are oppressed and instead of us looking at them as an uncomfortable thing to walk by on a morning commute, let's recognize that they may not be all that different from you and me.

A Less Than Credible Call for Equal Love in Rap Music by a White, Straight Macklemore

I love music. I love all genres of music. Yes, even country. And, yes, even hip-hop. I have to clarify because I feel as though these two genres are mutually exclusive and you have to hate at least one. But I don't.
In fact, this weekend I listened as both music genres were represented at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. As far as rap/hip-hop artists, the two day concert event included rappers 50 Cent, Childish Gambino, Nicki Minaj, and Iggy Azelea. Also, a surprise guest artist to sing a song with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran...Macklemore.

The thing that surprised me most about Macklemore's performance is that it didn't surprise me at all. Because he played "Same Love" which is the song that's brought him national recognition as a progressive artist in the hip-hop industry.
If you're one of the very few people left that hasn't heard the song, you've probably at least heard about it. That is, that it's a commentary on the homophobic state of American society, especially in the hip-hop genre. Within the song, Macklemore calls for equal rights for gay/lesbian couples (hence, the title).
For a lot of people, especially gay rights activists, this is an inspirational song and the fact it comes from a straight male, a member of the dominant culture, is even better.
But is it?

The thing I find problematic about Macklemore's glorification as an equal-rights activist is that he's never had to face the bullying, rejection, and unequal social status of which he sings.
And why can he speak of these things and not face overwhelming scrutiny?
Honestly, because of his privilege.

Privilege so often comes tacked on after the word "white". However, privilege is applicable in many other ways. A person with privilege occupies a higher status in society because they meet the standards of what is normal and acceptable.
Most relevant to Macklemore, is white privilege in a dominantly black music genre, of course, but with this particular song it's important to note he also has the privilege of being straight in a heterosexual society.
He has never endured the pain of conditional love by friends and family that so many people who identify as homosexual have faced. Nor has he been denied the right to marry his beloved because government didn't see his relationship as legal and the church saw it as sin. Of course, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with singing about the problems our society faces in terms of gay rights. And to a large extent the fact Macklemore is a member of the dominant culture, who occupies a good amount of social standing because of his privilege, helped the national movement for equal love.

However, Macklemore's song focuses a lot on equating oppression of black America and the Civil Rights Movement ("a war based on skin color" to quote the song directly) with homophobia in the predominantly black genre of rap music. What seems questionable about this, again, is that Macklemore himself is white, a somewhat outsider in the hip-hop industry (which was actually started as an outlet for the black community to comment on white supremacy), who has never endured the oppression, stereotyping, or categorization as a criminal or thug that the black artists he's calling to in "Same Love" have. It makes it seem as though Macklemore is trying to be a leader to a group that he almost doesn't belong to, and by implying that black rap artists should know how it feels to be criticized and rejected by society, they should know better than to do it to another group of people.

You can see why as straight, white man, Macklemore's call to action may not be completely credible. Not to say it isn't admirable and that Macklemore as an artist is completely oblivious to his privilege (Sidenote: rewind in time he even has a song titled "White Privilege" in which he discusses the issue) BUT as far as "Same Love" is concerned, we should be questioning why the only song most people know about that addresses gay rights is coming from Macklemore.


Here is a link to a clip of Macklemore's "Same Love" performance on Saturday night with Ed Sheeran.

Post by iHeartRadio.

In Hollywood, Thin is Gorgeous and Fat is Hilarious

This weekend, I decided to kick back and relax with one of my favorite movies of all time: Bridesmaids. If you've never seen it yourself, let me highly recommend you watch it and prepare to laugh your way to six-pack abs in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Of course, if you have seen it, you won't be surprised to hear that my favorite character is Meghan, played by the wonderful, beautiful, hilarious Melissa McCarthy.


http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma9fxipubb1rafiigo1_500.gif

Melissa McCarthy gained a lot of popularity from this role as the funniest, raunchiest, and most quotable character from the entire movie. But this weekend while watching it, I couldn't help but think about McCarthy's more recent roles in movies such as Tammy (2014), Identity Thief (2013), and The Heat (2013) and realize that all her characters are basically the same.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Melissa McCarthy. But I can't help but be bored of the roles she's playing when they're always the same. However, I don't blame the actress here as much as I blame Hollywood for putting her in the box she's in. A box that sets her apart from other actresses in Hollywood through a process scholars actually refer to as "Othering".

Othering is a common thing we all do in order to distance ourselves from another person or group of people, whether we realize it or not. The U.S. does it with other countries all the time on the news when we talk about how different people in the Middle East are from Americans because "we love democracy and they love terrorism" and "we believe in freedom while they hurt their people." Othering is even common in our every day lives, when we compare ourselves to those around us, when we subconsciously note their different skin colors or the way they dress to affirm our own identities.

This practice is also present in Hollywood with "plus-sized" actresses in movies. Melissa McCarthy doesn't fit the thin, model image we often associate with "gorgeous" so she needs another quality, a special, unique one to make up for that, according to society's standards. This is why she's always cast as the hilarious, crude character...to consolidate for the fact she's not thin.

Sadly, this Othering of larger females isn't confined to Melissa McCarthy but also actresses such as Rebel Wilson who also happened to make her big debut in Bridesmaids and has since landed roles as the awkward, brash, and hilarious side woman in films such as Pitch Perfect and What to Expect When You're Expecting.

I hope that these women continue to play such hilarious roles in their comedic careers and shine bright doing so, but also that Hollywood stops over playing their crudeness simply because they're what our skinny-obsessed society would consider fat.

http://www.instyle.co.uk/awards/mtv-movie-awards-2013/melissa-mccarthy-and-rebel-wilson

Check out this article that gave me some inspiration!
http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/02/09/melissa-mccarthy-sookie-st-james/

Why the Recent Celebrity Photo Leak Matters in Changing Problematic U.S. Culture

Last week, one of the hottest stories in both popular culture and news media was that of the Apple iCloud hack in which a list of 100 celebrity private photos were stolen and distributed publicly. I argue that this "scandal" is definitely newsworthy...but not for the reasons our patriarchal U.S. society has dubbed it as so. I want to use this scandal to explain why the shaming of female celebrities for taking nude photos is used in media to reinforce the sexist notion that a woman who shows her body is a "slut" and should be ashamed, which is also alarmingly popular in our culture in cases of rape victim shaming.

The dominant culture in U.S. is largely enforced by our media. These dominant ideals are governed by society unofficially and this concept is what cultural scholars refer to as hegemony.
With the release of female celebrity nude photos, news outlets did not hesitate to cover the event as a "scandal" and many websites linked articles about "How To Keep YOUR Personal Pictures Private" or "Past Celebrity Naked Pic Scandals" as if to underhandedly suggest that this was the fault of celebrities for taking such "wild" and "risqué" pictures in the first place. When first hearing about the scandal on the evening news, my own parents immediately stated, "Well why would someone keep those on their phone?" This truly disturbed me because, it's similar to what I've heard before in cases of rape: victim-shaming. When a
woman opens up about being raped, a lot of people's initial reaction is to ask if she deserved it. Not in these exact words of course but in their assuming questions such as, "What was she wearing?" "Did she drink a lot that night?" "Well why was out alone so late?"
Wow! All so problematic because it should never ever...not ever!...be the victims fault. The fact it so often is portrayed as such is the reason many critics have called us a "rape culture." Of course not all rape victims are females, but most of the time this is so. And almost always they are shamed for not doing enough to protect  themselves from the situation.

Refreshingly, what has been so unique about this photo leak is the lack of celebrity apologies and shaming that we have seen in the past with celebrities such as Vanessa Hudgens when her naked photos were released in 2009. Her popularity on Disney Channel cause controversy at her "immoral" actions and the company even apologized for her. In this case, social media outlets have talked about Jennifer Lawrence in an uplifting way rather than shaming her actions. The hashtag #ImNotLooking has raised support for the actress's privacy rather than reprimanding her for taking the pictures in the first place.

This change in the way we have been talking about the photo hack is promising in upturning the problematic cultural phenomenon of victim-blaming, especially in cases where of a female and her most private property...her body.