LightningBolt, 4/21

LightningBolt, 4/21

As the other United Color of Benetton advertisements we reviewed in class, this ad seems to encompass Hook’s main paint points.

http://www.leoburnett.ro/360/images/blog/media/photos/cc8511dfd3c1b402bb84cebb3e094ca7.jpg

The top of the women in the ad as well as her two arms appear to portray three different “shades” of a white person. The bottom stomach portion of the women seems to be portraying the body of a black woman. By using the proportion of the examples of a white woman and one of a black woman, the advertisement is “othering” the black race. The drama of this otherness is creating attraction to the ad and provokes interest and curiosity. Using race as a way of attracting interest and attention is exactly what Hooks discusses in her paper. Race is being commodified in this ad because the company is using it as a tool to sell their company.

After reading Hooks’ experience of overhearing the Yale students discuss their desires for sexual encounters with women of the opposite race and discussing the quote, “Within commodity culture, ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture” (366), I tried to think of relatable experiences in my own life. At first I had a hard time, but then realized that my life experiences are much more subtle. Fashion in our culture continuously draws upon different ethnicities to liven up our dull, familiar trends. Wearing Rasta colors and Jamaican type clothing has become a fairly normal way for people in our culture to spicen up their style. The majority of people probably don’t know the meaning behind the style and wear it strictly for looks.

brookes77, 4/21/09

In class today we talked about Belle Hooks’ essay. We focused on the United Colors of Beneton Advertisements. This company has been known for being one of the first to cast multicultural actors and actresses in their advertisements. When I was living in London last semester and when I visited Rome I saw a lot of these advertisements when I was shopping. They seem to be much more prevalent in the European culture rather than in American culture which I thought was interesting for I remembered them much more when I was younger. Beneton showed ads that were pretty uncommon such as a white baby sucking on a black woman’s breast. Beneton is trying to address the issue of how white culture others, other races, but really we define others so we can eventually define ourselves, and we all are different and the other race to each other. Beneton is trying to address the fact that we should all understand that we are on the same level but the hegemonic white voice says otherwise. One could argue that these advertisements are too risky and too avant guard, but really they are just making a point that when we put different races together we all have different views of each other, and we all are the same in the end, and we should understand this. Now it is even more interesting to show how Beneton advertisements are sending this message and at the same time have become more and more absent in the white American culture yet is still very publicized in other countries.
Another interesting issue that was discussed in class was the notion of how segregation was not the right word to describe exoticizing the other. We are not trying to be completely different from others, but we are trying to create a gap between races that shows the dominant race and power. If we were to segregate races there could be a threat of competition, yet by making a race different they are just a different version of what is normal and accepted. So creating a large gap in races is worse then segregating races in my opinion for it is further showing a comparing relationship. As I conclude I end up with the same questions that we asked ourselves sin class: who has the right to make this separation? Who is given this authority and why?

dmariel, 4/21

I thought that the conversation about Hooks ideas of advertising methods was really interesting..She points out something very obvious that is going on in American advertising techniques-you can’t sell your product anymore without cutting down another. Just yesterday I wrote a paper on pharmaceutical advertising and many of its targeting techniques. One of my main focuses was the way in which medical brand names are constantly comparing themselves to other brands of the same type of medication. For example, a recent advertisement for Lunesta, a sleeping pill, states “If you cant get a good night of rest with Ambien, try Lunesta.” Not only is this quote the main focus of the advertisement, the background portrays two very sexualized women in two different beds. The woman who took Ambien is blankly staring at the ceiling, her sheets are a mess, and her body looks twisted and uncomfortable. On the other hand, the woman who took Lunesta is perfectly tucked in under her covers, sleeping serenely with a butterfly (Lunesta’s symbol) watching over her shoulder to make sure she sleeps perfectly. Interestingly enough, through my research and interviews I found that the average American consumer found this technique to be VERY effective.
The internet was a perfect example of the commodification of human beings. The website, planet love, offering brides from other cultures is degrading to the women. Not only are you conquering their race, but their body and life on an individual and sexual basis. The caricatures that they use as their icons for the website reiterate the commodification of these women, portraying what Hooks refers to as the “alternative playground.” The assumed visitors that use this site are supposedly white men, who are affirming power relationships over the women (and men-by objectifying their women) of other ethnicity's. I think that Hooks was a particularly interesting theorist and I enjoyed the reading and the class session looking at different types of advertisements that we often see in the material world today.

coolbeans, hooks

In “Eating the Other”, bell hooks discusses the ways in which our culture and society makes use of the Other. One thing that bell hooks discusses that interested me was that the Other is often used in advertising and marketing. Hooks cites the example that market surveys revealed that black people buy more Pepsi than other soft drinks so suddenly more Pepsi commercials featured black people in them. He also states that fashion is another industry in which selling products involves exploiting otherness. After thinking about this, I have come to the realization that this is true. Every marketing campaign is targeted towards a certain target audience. Dolce & Gabbana ads usually speak to a more European audience because generally European people like to wear Dolce & Gabbana, whereas Ralph Lauren ads are usually more all-American because the target audience is the American public. In advertising, the Other or the image of the Other becomes commodified in order to sell something. Executives of media contribute to much of the exploitation of the Other in order to sell things. The phrase “sell out” has been coined to denote a person who has given in to the commodification process; one who has agreed to change his/her image in order to sell movies, records, books, etc… It is often common to hear people say something like “Ludacris is such a sell-out” in reference to rappers who have turned their music into “pop” music. The culture of rap started as an Other movement. It was a new a different form of music that was underground and not popular. Much of original rap spoke about topics such as racism, poverty, real issues, etc… Executive record labels want the artists that they pick up to make money for them and therefore the music has changed from its original intent into meaningless catchy rhymes that discuss how awesome the artist is, how many unique “whips” an artist has in his garage, how much money the artist has accumulated, etc…

Trapnest, Hooks

The Other exists as a common, yet often unspoken, understanding of a specific group within a particular society. This group is, like the name suggests, something which is different from the dominant and or most prevalent group within a society. Because of this “foreign” nature, the other achieves an exotic nature and what I feel is almost a taboo within society. This is what part of Hooks’ argument stems from, that the other becomes a source of desire, or sexual fantasy.

I feel the focus upon the body stems from another factor, which Hooks also touches upon. This is the fact that often the classification of The Other focuses upon the body. She discusses the Other as race, and to determine someone’s race there is a focus almost exclusively upon the body to make distinctions.

The Other has a key relationship to society. As previously mentioned the other is the less dominant group in society, therefore they are expected to play the role their numbers dictate, one of submission. Another quote which interested me in particular was, “the Other will be eaten, consumed, and forgotten.” (380) This quote exemplifies another form of dominance, one where we are able to consume the Other. While in some cases this can be viewed as a literal consumption, like genocide. Different cases include the commoditization of the Other for our pleasure.

This commodification of the other is seen throughout society. For example many people will comment to a single colored person’s presence in a show or movie as “the token black guy” for humor or a certain racial inclusion. I believe it was in “Scary Movie” that had a discussion about how the “black guy” always got killed off first. In this single instance we have commodified a person of color, made him the Other, used the Other for our entertainment, and have shown that it is within our power to “kill him off” and “consume” him if it pleases us.

brookes77, Belle Hooks

“The West’s are fascinated with the primitive has to do with its own crises in identity.” This is very relevant to what we are discussing in Dr. Cummings 350 class that focuses on Native American representations in the media. We talked about how only define others because we must define ourselves somehow. We point at people and state that they are different or other because we can not identify white power without seeking the identify of the other which is less significant and thought of as weaker then the white race. White culture constructs the way we look at other races because it is how the white race wants them to be remembered, and because of our culture that is obsessed with winning and competing we remember and re teach the other’s identity, and we call them the lower less important and less intelligent class. We take advantage of them. Belle hooks also states that: “Longings about contacting the other- embedded in the secret (not so secret) deep structure of white supremacy”. This is showing how white construction of undermining other races is not as secretive anymore. People are benefiting from education of how the mass media portrays the “other” and how a negative light is brought on all other races, besides the dominant white race. Hooks also talks about on page 371: “ Mutual recognition of racism, its impact both on those who are dominated and those who dominate, is the only standpoint that makes possible an encounter between races that is not based on denial and fantasy.” This notion of mutual recognition of racism is on one hand a step in the right direction because this issue is no longer overlooked yet on the other had it is a lot worse. People on both sides are understanding racial stereotypes and accepting them and that people are aware of them. This brings in a sense of normalization of racism. We have become so obsessed with competing can we ever have all equal races, do humans know how to live with out different, better, or worse classes/races? Or are we too judgmental and competitive. Domination has become white culture’s obsession.

Another interesting quote I found was:“ To make one’s self vulnerable to the seduction of difference, to seek an encounter with the Other, does not require that one relinquish forever one’s mainstream positionality. This means that race and ethnicity have become products of commodification. These people who are considered the other are exotic and because of this the white culture is obsessed with taking advantage of them, in Hooks explanation on 367, sexually. They are different looking not white and pure, which gives them a sense of experiment. This in itself is racial stereotyping.