When I first received this assignment I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for on facebook. I thought about all of the articles we read in class and I couldn’t think of one article that related to anything that was on facebook. After I continued thinking about it the one article that I thought related the most was the article about Abercrombie. The article about Abercrombie was the one article that people in my generation could relate to the most and so I thought that it would be the best one to relate to another important part of our generation, socializing on the internet.
When I searched facebook for the word Abercrombie I got a lot of results. The first few pages were all people who had Abercrombie as their last name but then I found groups supporting Abercrombie, people who worked for Abercrombie and listed it under employment and even people who listed it under their interests. I was surprised that I didn’t get more results when I typed in Abercrombie and Finch. I got more results when I just typed Abercrombie. It was interesting to see how the article related to what I found on facebook. I don’t agree with what the article said, I believe that there are other reasons as to why facebook’s target market is white, but just for the articles sake I will say that all the results on facebook showed Caucasian Americans. I do believe that there are alternative reasons as to why when you search facebook for people with the word Abercrombie. I do not think that it means that Abercrombie is a racist organization its just that their target market is a specific group of people that just happens to be Caucasian, young, hip teenagers.
As an overview, I don’t think that facebook promotes discrimination. Instead it allows people to express their true identity. Race and Nationality are about of people’s identity.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Monday, April 2, 2007
“Where do you want to go today?”: Cybernetic Tourism, The Internet, and Transnationality
This article talks about discrimination on both the internet and in television and print advertising. Nakamura, the author talks about how on the internet, or in cyberspace, it is easy to have certain parts of your identity overlooked; Aspects of your identity such as race, gender, age, sexuality. She also talks about how this isn’t always the case. It’s not always possible to completely abandon that aspect of ones identity. In the articles introduction paragraph it says, “This pure, democratic, cerebral form of communication is touted as a utopia, a pure no-place where human interaction can occur, as the voice-over says ‘uninfluenced by the rest of it’”. This quote is referring to a television commercial that claims that on the internet individuals are not influenced by ‘the rest of it’. It is referring to how on the internet there are only minds and no discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexuality etc. MCI Internet Services also used a similar advertising concept. In their advertisements they pushed the idea that getting on the internet made individuals part of a global network that freed them from their attributes that may or may not discriminate against them. Another example was a television commercial created by AT&T that promoted a world without limits and that communication is that tool to make it work.
Nakamura uses many great examples of how large corporations have advertised that the internet allows individuals to express their identity not by their skin color, or their gender, or any other discriminating factors but rather show their individuality thru their personality. Nakamura does an incredible job of analyzing these promotional messages but very rarely did I see her address the deeper issues. She spent majority of her time analyzing the promotion and what it meant and not really talking about the effectiveness of the advertisement or even the way that the message was received by customers. She also spends very little time addressing the hidden meanings in the advertisements. On page 94 when she is discussing the IBM commercial I think she finally digs a little deeper into the true problem of these advertisements. She says, “These ads claim a world without boundaries for us, the consumers and the target audiences, and by doing they show us exactly where and what these boundaries are, and that is ethnic and racial”. She further addresses this underlying issue beginning on page 96 when she states that advertising in magazines such as Wired, Time, Smithsonian, the New Yorker and the Chronicle of Higher Education are directed towards upper-middle-class white readers.
I don’t think that Nakamura ever directly states this but I think that the underlying issue with all of these promotional campaigns is that they are true, but only to their target audience. However, I don’t think that it’s a negative concept and that it promotes discrimination based on race, sex gender or any other discriminating factor. It’s a basic business concept that in advertising the message in any promotional material has to speak directly to the targeted audience. I think that instead of arguing that these certain advertisements discriminate people should argue that business re-analyze their target audiences and design other advertising campaigns that speak to another proportion of this audience.
Nakamura uses many great examples of how large corporations have advertised that the internet allows individuals to express their identity not by their skin color, or their gender, or any other discriminating factors but rather show their individuality thru their personality. Nakamura does an incredible job of analyzing these promotional messages but very rarely did I see her address the deeper issues. She spent majority of her time analyzing the promotion and what it meant and not really talking about the effectiveness of the advertisement or even the way that the message was received by customers. She also spends very little time addressing the hidden meanings in the advertisements. On page 94 when she is discussing the IBM commercial I think she finally digs a little deeper into the true problem of these advertisements. She says, “These ads claim a world without boundaries for us, the consumers and the target audiences, and by doing they show us exactly where and what these boundaries are, and that is ethnic and racial”. She further addresses this underlying issue beginning on page 96 when she states that advertising in magazines such as Wired, Time, Smithsonian, the New Yorker and the Chronicle of Higher Education are directed towards upper-middle-class white readers.
I don’t think that Nakamura ever directly states this but I think that the underlying issue with all of these promotional campaigns is that they are true, but only to their target audience. However, I don’t think that it’s a negative concept and that it promotes discrimination based on race, sex gender or any other discriminating factor. It’s a basic business concept that in advertising the message in any promotional material has to speak directly to the targeted audience. I think that instead of arguing that these certain advertisements discriminate people should argue that business re-analyze their target audiences and design other advertising campaigns that speak to another proportion of this audience.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Erasing @ Race
I didn’t have to read much of this article before I discovered what the most important concept behind the article was. At the end of the first paragraph it says, “Experience is defined by taking action, including deciding explicitly who you are, or who you want to say you are. Consequently, the design of such spaces- the interface that user’s access- has significant power to affect the interaction expressible at such sites”. This quote sets the tone for the rest of the article. It is simply saying that since users use computers and not real human interaction it’s easy to deceive people into thinking that individuals are different than themselves. Having said that gives this interface a lot of power because it gives people the opportunity to hide behind this created reality. The article continues to further discuss race as a part of this virtual identity.
Something that I found interesting early on in the article is Kolko’s discussion about language choices in text- based worlds such as instant messaging. With interpersonal communication facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice etc play a very important role in our interpretations of others. In the text based world all of these communication tools are absent; therefore language choice is very important when individuals describe themselves. It plays a crucial role in creating an individuals virtual identity. This is also true of physical appearance. Without being able to see the individual, language choice is the only significant factor that can be used to significantly identify ones virtual identity.
The most interesting argument that I found was Brenda Laurel’s argument about the politics of interface design. She argues that, “constructing a self-replicating and exclusionary category of “ideal” user, one that, in some very particular instances of cyberspace, is a definitively white user”. I know I have gone back to this concept a lot but why do we focus so much on this? Nothing is ever going to change because we over analyze everything so much. This quote says that people make the assumption that users are white until they are given distinct and direct clues to learn that they aren’t. It’s a common fact that people are more comfortable around people that they can relate to. Regardless of skin color that is something that everyone has in common. The world needs to take a step back and embrace our differences and realize that we are never all going to be the same and that there will always be some forms of discrimination but that over analyzing isn’t going to help.
Something that I found interesting early on in the article is Kolko’s discussion about language choices in text- based worlds such as instant messaging. With interpersonal communication facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice etc play a very important role in our interpretations of others. In the text based world all of these communication tools are absent; therefore language choice is very important when individuals describe themselves. It plays a crucial role in creating an individuals virtual identity. This is also true of physical appearance. Without being able to see the individual, language choice is the only significant factor that can be used to significantly identify ones virtual identity.
The most interesting argument that I found was Brenda Laurel’s argument about the politics of interface design. She argues that, “constructing a self-replicating and exclusionary category of “ideal” user, one that, in some very particular instances of cyberspace, is a definitively white user”. I know I have gone back to this concept a lot but why do we focus so much on this? Nothing is ever going to change because we over analyze everything so much. This quote says that people make the assumption that users are white until they are given distinct and direct clues to learn that they aren’t. It’s a common fact that people are more comfortable around people that they can relate to. Regardless of skin color that is something that everyone has in common. The world needs to take a step back and embrace our differences and realize that we are never all going to be the same and that there will always be some forms of discrimination but that over analyzing isn’t going to help.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Why I hate Abercrombie
This article begins by talking about how white, gay men are drawn to the Abercrombie clothing line. It’s interesting to think about what makes the brand such a magnet for white, gay men. Abercrombie was established in 1892. It quickly grew to become a prosperous outdoorsmen’s store, featuring elaborate promotions set up just like they would be in the wilderness. Even in the earliest days of its conception Abercrombie was associated with white men who lived in the leisure class. The company first created the catalog after Abercrombie had resigned. This catalog was more than 450 pages long and was shipped to over 50,000 elite white males who they hoped to make potential customers. Abercrombie began to face economic hard times until current CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch began a very successful marketing campaign that captured “playful coed shots” to glamorize the collegiate lifestyle. In 1997 Abercrombie and Fitch launched the A&F Quarterly to further promote their new image. In 1998 Abercrombie and Fitch once again became a publicly traded company.
What’s interesting about their Marketing campaign is how much they have to focus on marketing the lifestyle that their clothes provide to privileged and leisure class whites because the clothes are actually boring and homely. Abercrombie provides the Abercrombie Look Book: Guidelines for Brand Representatives of Abercrombie and Fitch to all of their Brand Representatives. These books discuss numerous topics but are broken down into five sections: Introduction, Our Past, Our Present, Our Future, and the A&F look. This book talks about all the qualities. Both personal and physical that a Brand Representative must have in order to sell the Abercrombie images, which is what ultimately sells their clothes. In all of the pages of the A&F Quarterly there are images of white men and women, but predominantly men.
Just one of the many ways that Abercrombie promotes racism is the line of “Asian” themed t-shirts that the company launched in April of 2003. These t-shirts poked fun of Asians and were protested by people in that community.
Another way to look at the way Abercrombie promotes racism is the skin color of all of their employees. In all A&F stores the sales staff is predominantly white. Similar clothing designers such as Ralph Lauren do a much better job of promoting equality as well as diversity. On June 17th, 2003 a class action lawsuit was filed against Abercrombie claiming they discriminate in their hiring practices. The author of this article believes that the elaborate creating of the A&F look was a method to avoid company exposure to lawsuits against their employment policies. The author of this article also said that every previous employee that he had spoken to were white men. It also said that they ranged in age from 19-26 and were either college educated or in college. These men told stories of how black employees were excluded from company photos, sales staff who were fired because they did not fit the Abercrombie look, and the grading scale used to rate the looks of Abercrombie employees. One previous employee also said that they were very clear in the employee type that they were looking for. They wanted the all American look, natural, no skin problems, and to look for white people.
Numerous times the author stated in this article that people are not buying the Abercrombie clothing line for the clothes; they are buying in for the life style. Having said that people have to understand that it’s all apart of their business plan and marketing campaign. It’s not being racist using implementing the right sales force to make the most of their business plan. If African Americans and Hispanics were buying their clothes it would be different. Vast majority of their clients fit the description of their typical employee and they want to be sold clothes by someone that is similar to them. It’s the same in all areas of sales. People want someone who can relate to them and that they feel comfortable with or they are not going to be willing to buy. People need to stop claiming that they are discriminating, when in all actuality they are running a very successful business that provides their customers with exactly what they want.
What’s interesting about their Marketing campaign is how much they have to focus on marketing the lifestyle that their clothes provide to privileged and leisure class whites because the clothes are actually boring and homely. Abercrombie provides the Abercrombie Look Book: Guidelines for Brand Representatives of Abercrombie and Fitch to all of their Brand Representatives. These books discuss numerous topics but are broken down into five sections: Introduction, Our Past, Our Present, Our Future, and the A&F look. This book talks about all the qualities. Both personal and physical that a Brand Representative must have in order to sell the Abercrombie images, which is what ultimately sells their clothes. In all of the pages of the A&F Quarterly there are images of white men and women, but predominantly men.
Just one of the many ways that Abercrombie promotes racism is the line of “Asian” themed t-shirts that the company launched in April of 2003. These t-shirts poked fun of Asians and were protested by people in that community.
Another way to look at the way Abercrombie promotes racism is the skin color of all of their employees. In all A&F stores the sales staff is predominantly white. Similar clothing designers such as Ralph Lauren do a much better job of promoting equality as well as diversity. On June 17th, 2003 a class action lawsuit was filed against Abercrombie claiming they discriminate in their hiring practices. The author of this article believes that the elaborate creating of the A&F look was a method to avoid company exposure to lawsuits against their employment policies. The author of this article also said that every previous employee that he had spoken to were white men. It also said that they ranged in age from 19-26 and were either college educated or in college. These men told stories of how black employees were excluded from company photos, sales staff who were fired because they did not fit the Abercrombie look, and the grading scale used to rate the looks of Abercrombie employees. One previous employee also said that they were very clear in the employee type that they were looking for. They wanted the all American look, natural, no skin problems, and to look for white people.
Numerous times the author stated in this article that people are not buying the Abercrombie clothing line for the clothes; they are buying in for the life style. Having said that people have to understand that it’s all apart of their business plan and marketing campaign. It’s not being racist using implementing the right sales force to make the most of their business plan. If African Americans and Hispanics were buying their clothes it would be different. Vast majority of their clients fit the description of their typical employee and they want to be sold clothes by someone that is similar to them. It’s the same in all areas of sales. People want someone who can relate to them and that they feel comfortable with or they are not going to be willing to buy. People need to stop claiming that they are discriminating, when in all actuality they are running a very successful business that provides their customers with exactly what they want.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Takaki Chapter 12
Why did everyone view America as the land of dreams? A lot of Mexicans moved north to the United States because it was so easy for them to get across the boarder. They never needed a passport just to check in with the immigration office on the American side and change into some American clothes. Mexicans continued to flock to the United States because of the violence of the Mexican Revolution and to escape the poverty and starvation that was taking over. Many Mexicans only planned to reside in the United States for a few months or at least until peace returned but those few months quickly turned to years. The development of the Mexican railroad helped encourage workers and other Mexican citizens to move to the United States. The railroads caused a massive migration to the United States. Altogether an estimated one tenth of the Mexican population moved to the United States.
Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.
Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.
Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.
One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.
Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).
How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.
Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.
Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.
Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.
One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.
Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).
How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.
Takaki Chapter 12
Why did everyone view America as the land of dreams? A lot of Mexicans moved north to the United States because it was so easy for them to get across the boarder. They never needed a passport just to check in with the immigration office on the American side and change into some American clothes. Mexicans continued to flock to the United States because of the violence of the Mexican Revolution and to escape the poverty and starvation that was taking over. Many Mexicans only planned to reside in the United States for a few months or at least until peace returned but those few months quickly turned to years. The development of the Mexican railroad helped encourage workers and other Mexican citizens to move to the United States. The railroads caused a massive migration to the United States. Altogether an estimated one tenth of the Mexican population moved to the United States.
Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.
Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.
Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.
One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.
Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).
How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.
Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.
Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.
Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.
One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.
Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).
How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Takaki Chapter 6
I found its interesting how to hear how the Irish came to America. It wasn’t because they dreamed of a brighter future or land of opportunities it was because they were forced to leave. And it was just a small amount of Irish who were forced to leave it was five and a half million between 1815 and 1920. Ironically, they were being pushed out of their country in masses, “by strangers from England”. Previously the Irish had lost a vast majority of their land to English land lords and were forced to convert to the Christian religion but later found themselves defending Catholicism. Due to the push to increase exports the Irish were pushed even further into poverty. Between 1750 and 1810 Irish exports increased from 2 million to 6 million pounds. To try and overcome poverty around the 1840’s many Irish became migratory workers and were able to make enough to feed their families potatoes for a year.
In July of 1845 the potato crop was attacked with a disease. By 1855 over one million people had died from hunger and sickness. During this time many Irish fled to America in an attempt to escape the fever, disease and hunger. Over one million people had died from the Great Potato Famine.
Like many other immigrants that came to America the Irish became laborers. While many of them became laborers some Irish didn’t even make it to America. Due to the horrible conditions on their voyage over an estimated twenty percent of the emigrants dies during or because of the passage.
Conditions in Ireland failed to improve and between the years of 1855 and 1920, three million Irish moved to America. Even though they came to America looking for the land of promises they quickly realized that it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. After an Irish labor strike, Chinese workers were brought in to fill the gaps in unemployment. The Chinese were able to increase production compared to the Irish. When contrasted with the Chinese they were often compared to blacks. According to an English traveler, “To be called an ‘Irishman’ is almost as great an insult as to be stigmatized as a ‘nigger feeler’” (pg. 150).
Even though the English viewed Blacks and Irish in the same social class standing Irish people did not treat Blacks as equals. Once again it comes back to the same issues of equality. No ethnicity or race can expect to be treated as equals when they don’t show the same equal treatment to others. As soon as the Irish began receiving jobs that were perhaps worse than those given to the slaves they began to promote their whiteness.
In July of 1845 the potato crop was attacked with a disease. By 1855 over one million people had died from hunger and sickness. During this time many Irish fled to America in an attempt to escape the fever, disease and hunger. Over one million people had died from the Great Potato Famine.
Like many other immigrants that came to America the Irish became laborers. While many of them became laborers some Irish didn’t even make it to America. Due to the horrible conditions on their voyage over an estimated twenty percent of the emigrants dies during or because of the passage.
Conditions in Ireland failed to improve and between the years of 1855 and 1920, three million Irish moved to America. Even though they came to America looking for the land of promises they quickly realized that it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. After an Irish labor strike, Chinese workers were brought in to fill the gaps in unemployment. The Chinese were able to increase production compared to the Irish. When contrasted with the Chinese they were often compared to blacks. According to an English traveler, “To be called an ‘Irishman’ is almost as great an insult as to be stigmatized as a ‘nigger feeler’” (pg. 150).
Even though the English viewed Blacks and Irish in the same social class standing Irish people did not treat Blacks as equals. Once again it comes back to the same issues of equality. No ethnicity or race can expect to be treated as equals when they don’t show the same equal treatment to others. As soon as the Irish began receiving jobs that were perhaps worse than those given to the slaves they began to promote their whiteness.
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