Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, May 14, 2012
Gender and Sexuality (Cont'd)
"Gender and Sexuality" Prezi presentation
A little bit more about Queer Theory:
The gender performativity theory that Judith Butler described in her book Gender Trouble was based on J. L. Austin's performative language theory. According to Austin, there are two types of language: constative and performative. Constative language describes something that already exists, while performative language actually "brings something into being." Two examples that Storey provided were "The sky is blue," and "I now pronounce you husband and wife," for constative and performative languages, respectively (Storey 161).
Butler believes that gender is a kind of performativity. We usually think that the nurse exclaims "It's a girl," and gives the newborn a pink blanket because the baby was born a girl. Quite conversely, those very expressions that we think of as results of the "identity" of the baby (being a girl) are what performatively create the so-called gender identity: "[...] one is not born a woman, one becomes one [...]," Butler stated (Storey 161). Each gender expression comes with a set of rules and expectations that parents, schools, and the media will work relentlessly to reinforce the "naturalness" of genders. Genders are, therefore, not "natural," but rather "naturalized" (Storey 160-162).
Taking YouTube as an example, we can see that technologies like YouTube which allow easy access to media content can really change "performativity as cultural ritual, as the reiteration of cultural norms" (Storey 162). Seeing Chris Crocker and the like on YouTube makes people realize that "one is not born a woman, one becomes one; but further, one is not born female, one becomes female; but even more radically, one can if one chooses, become neither female nor male, woman nor man" (Storey 161).
Another interesting thing we want to point out is that on social networks like Facebook, specifying your sex (male or female) doesn't dictate your gender. Because "gender is not the expression of biological sex," you can specify--in addition to your sex---that you are interested in men, or women, or both (Storey 161).
A little bit more about Queer Theory:
The gender performativity theory that Judith Butler described in her book Gender Trouble was based on J. L. Austin's performative language theory. According to Austin, there are two types of language: constative and performative. Constative language describes something that already exists, while performative language actually "brings something into being." Two examples that Storey provided were "The sky is blue," and "I now pronounce you husband and wife," for constative and performative languages, respectively (Storey 161).
Butler believes that gender is a kind of performativity. We usually think that the nurse exclaims "It's a girl," and gives the newborn a pink blanket because the baby was born a girl. Quite conversely, those very expressions that we think of as results of the "identity" of the baby (being a girl) are what performatively create the so-called gender identity: "[...] one is not born a woman, one becomes one [...]," Butler stated (Storey 161). Each gender expression comes with a set of rules and expectations that parents, schools, and the media will work relentlessly to reinforce the "naturalness" of genders. Genders are, therefore, not "natural," but rather "naturalized" (Storey 160-162).
Taking YouTube as an example, we can see that technologies like YouTube which allow easy access to media content can really change "performativity as cultural ritual, as the reiteration of cultural norms" (Storey 162). Seeing Chris Crocker and the like on YouTube makes people realize that "one is not born a woman, one becomes one; but further, one is not born female, one becomes female; but even more radically, one can if one chooses, become neither female nor male, woman nor man" (Storey 161).
Another interesting thing we want to point out is that on social networks like Facebook, specifying your sex (male or female) doesn't dictate your gender. Because "gender is not the expression of biological sex," you can specify--in addition to your sex---that you are interested in men, or women, or both (Storey 161).
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Gender and Sexuality
There are four main types of feminism: Radical, Marxist, Liberal, and Dual-systems. Radical feminism blames the oppression of women on the patriarchy. Marxist feminists believe that the source of this oppression is capitalism. Liberal feminism blames men's prejudice as the source of women's oppression. Dual-systems theory combines Marxist and Radical feminism, claiming oppression is the result of both the patriarchy and capitalism.
Scopophilia is defined as "the pleasure of looking" and applied to feminism and popular culture, this means that women are considered objects to be looked at while men are admired and rewarded for intrinsic qualities such as humor and intelligence. This is evident in some of the most popular YouTube channels. All of the successful women on YouTube dress provocatively and are pretty, blond, and well-endowed. The men's channels aren't immune to this either, because they get a significant boost in views whenever a busty female is featured in the thumbnail of their video.
Masculine studies is not a widely discussed or researched topic. According to Peter Schwenger, men do not like to discuss their masculinity because to do so is to become less masculine. Men do not wish to draw into question their sexuality by studying it. Storey says on page 114 of Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, "It is as if discussion of popular culture consumed by women is gendered and therefore particular, whereas discussion of popular culture consumed by men is ungendered and therefore universal."
While biological sex is usually categorized in two simple categories (female and male), the gender to which an individual identifies can be much more varied. Paul Burston and Colin Richardson say that "part of the project of Queer is to attack...the very "naturalness" of gender and, by extension, the fictions supporting compulsory heterosexuality." Storey says on page 142, "Femininity and masculinity are not expressions of 'nature', they are 'cultural performances in which their naturalness is constituted through discursively constrained performance acts." That is to say, what is considered masculine or feminine is determined by culture, and not by biology.
Scopophilia is defined as "the pleasure of looking" and applied to feminism and popular culture, this means that women are considered objects to be looked at while men are admired and rewarded for intrinsic qualities such as humor and intelligence. This is evident in some of the most popular YouTube channels. All of the successful women on YouTube dress provocatively and are pretty, blond, and well-endowed. The men's channels aren't immune to this either, because they get a significant boost in views whenever a busty female is featured in the thumbnail of their video.
Masculine studies is not a widely discussed or researched topic. According to Peter Schwenger, men do not like to discuss their masculinity because to do so is to become less masculine. Men do not wish to draw into question their sexuality by studying it. Storey says on page 114 of Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, "It is as if discussion of popular culture consumed by women is gendered and therefore particular, whereas discussion of popular culture consumed by men is ungendered and therefore universal."
While biological sex is usually categorized in two simple categories (female and male), the gender to which an individual identifies can be much more varied. Paul Burston and Colin Richardson say that "part of the project of Queer is to attack...the very "naturalness" of gender and, by extension, the fictions supporting compulsory heterosexuality." Storey says on page 142, "Femininity and masculinity are not expressions of 'nature', they are 'cultural performances in which their naturalness is constituted through discursively constrained performance acts." That is to say, what is considered masculine or feminine is determined by culture, and not by biology.
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
Hey guys, here's our final blog post on Structuralism and Post-Structuralism. We divided up the work, so everyone just wrote a paragraph detailing our own section. At the bottom is the prezi we included in class. Enjoy!
“It is the underlying rules of cultural texts and practices that interest structuralists. It is structure that makes meaning possible. The task of structuralism, therefore, is to make explicit the rules and conventions (the structure) which govern the production of meaning. “ (Storey, pg. 114). Sructuralists have two basic ideas introduced by the linguist Saussure. The first idea is a concern with the underlying relations of text and practices, which comprise structure. And the second idea is that meaning is always the result of relationships and combination made possible by the underlying structure. For example, if you write the word dog, it produces a signifier of the English word ‘dog’, and it creates a signified which is the mental image of a four legged canine creature. This creates the structure, which demonstrates the first idea of structuralism. The second idea of structuralism can be demonstrated by the word ‘mother’. Mother has no meaning unless you relate it to other concepts such as ‘father’, ‘daughter’, or ‘son’. Structuralism is centered around how we derive meaning. It tries to find where the meaning of events in life is derived from, and tries to explain how you can derive most meaning from life.
Post-structuralism differs from structuralism in many ways, but the best ideal to study is literary criticism. For example, if you wanted to find out what Shakespeare was really writing about when he wrote “Romeo and Juliet” a structuralist would tell you to ask Shakespeare. Structuralists believe that every literary work is a product of it’s time, and so you would have to study the environment under which the play was written. But not so with post-structuralism. A post- structuralist interpretation of the play would be very skewed, and even contradictory, but that is because a post- structuralist believes that the truth in art is with the interpreter. The artist’s true intentions do not actually matter, and the implications of the work are entirely up to the audience.
Both Structuralism and Post-Structuralism are interested in how meaning is created. Structuralists say that meaning comes from specific structures, while Post-Structuralists say that meaning comes from the recipient. For example, where is meaning found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Structuralists would say that in order to understand the meaning of Frankenstein, you have to understand Mary Shelley’s life, the culture that she lived in, and even Romanticism and Gothicism in literature. Post-Structuralists would say, however, that any meaning in Frankenstein is found only in reading it. As another example, what about the Beatles album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? Structuralists would say that, in order to understand the meaning of the album, you would have to understand the lives of the Beatles, the music of the 1960s, etc. Post-Structuralists would say, however, that the meaning is only found in the listener.
“It is the underlying rules of cultural texts and practices that interest structuralists. It is structure that makes meaning possible. The task of structuralism, therefore, is to make explicit the rules and conventions (the structure) which govern the production of meaning. “ (Storey, pg. 114). Sructuralists have two basic ideas introduced by the linguist Saussure. The first idea is a concern with the underlying relations of text and practices, which comprise structure. And the second idea is that meaning is always the result of relationships and combination made possible by the underlying structure. For example, if you write the word dog, it produces a signifier of the English word ‘dog’, and it creates a signified which is the mental image of a four legged canine creature. This creates the structure, which demonstrates the first idea of structuralism. The second idea of structuralism can be demonstrated by the word ‘mother’. Mother has no meaning unless you relate it to other concepts such as ‘father’, ‘daughter’, or ‘son’. Structuralism is centered around how we derive meaning. It tries to find where the meaning of events in life is derived from, and tries to explain how you can derive most meaning from life.
Post-structuralism differs from structuralism in many ways, but the best ideal to study is literary criticism. For example, if you wanted to find out what Shakespeare was really writing about when he wrote “Romeo and Juliet” a structuralist would tell you to ask Shakespeare. Structuralists believe that every literary work is a product of it’s time, and so you would have to study the environment under which the play was written. But not so with post-structuralism. A post- structuralist interpretation of the play would be very skewed, and even contradictory, but that is because a post- structuralist believes that the truth in art is with the interpreter. The artist’s true intentions do not actually matter, and the implications of the work are entirely up to the audience.
Both Structuralism and Post-Structuralism are interested in how meaning is created. Structuralists say that meaning comes from specific structures, while Post-Structuralists say that meaning comes from the recipient. For example, where is meaning found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Structuralists would say that in order to understand the meaning of Frankenstein, you have to understand Mary Shelley’s life, the culture that she lived in, and even Romanticism and Gothicism in literature. Post-Structuralists would say, however, that any meaning in Frankenstein is found only in reading it. As another example, what about the Beatles album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? Structuralists would say that, in order to understand the meaning of the album, you would have to understand the lives of the Beatles, the music of the 1960s, etc. Post-Structuralists would say, however, that the meaning is only found in the listener.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
BONOBO CHAT
Description
BonoboChat is an app for mobile
devices that uses lexicons to speak to Bonobo monkeys. The Bonobo points to the
lexicon that corresponds with certain words. The creators of BonoboChat hope to
update the app with the ability to convert text-to-speech. They would also eventually
like for the Bonobos to be able to use the app to control the environment
around them: doors, vending machines, and even a robot (the BonoboRobo) that is
equipped with water gun.
The Positive Aspect
"The iGeners have redefined
communication. . .and latch on to and embrace any new communication tool and
give it their own personal spin." But the use of lexicons as a means of
communication is not a new idea. The idea behind the BonoboChat is a concept
called Augmented Communication. Often by people with mental and communicative
disabilities, augmented communication is a blanket term for methods of
communication that replace speaking or writing. Lexicons are used as a means of
communications for people with these disabilites. Augmented communication is an
overwhelmingly positive idea. Without it, many people would have no means with
which to communicate with the world around them. A recurring theme in the texts
that we are reading is the idea of always being connected, being able to
communicate with people across the world. Yet there are people with
disabilities that prevent them from communicating with the people directly in
front of them. Augmented communication gives them the chance to communicate
with the world around them, a chance that they would not have had without this concept.
The Negative Aspect
Bonobo Chat enables bonobos to use a
robot with a fake monkey head to enable them to interact with guests and do
tasks like open doors, operate vending machines, and even squirt toy water
guns. The reach of technology has extended beyond humans to even apes. Bonobos
use Bonobo Chat with an iPad that they carry around with them to communicate.
Nowadays, the use of technology starts at a very young age, and this is even
true for bonobos. They’re starting to learn how to use Bonobo Chat at even six
months old. Lexigrams are even used between bonobos.
In Chapter 2 of The Shallows, research was done that
demonstrated that tools like rakes and pliers “actually came to be incorporated
into the brain maps of the animals’ hands. The tools, so far as the animals’
brains were concerned, had become part of their bodies.” If this is true, then
Bonobos could have difficulty separating themselves from technology. It would
be ingrained in their brains, which shows the massive effect that technology
can have even on apes.
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