feminist blogs

In the aftermath of the 8.8 earthquake that killed hundreds in Chile, many are making the inevitable comparison between Chile and Haiti, where a smaller earthquake killed more than 200,000 people. NPR and other news sources have focused on how Chile was more “prepared” — its buildings more sound, its infrastructure more “developed,” its people more [...]

Members of PIKE fraternity at the University of California, San Diego came under fire this month for hosting a party, called” The Compton Cookout,” designed to mock black Americans and Black history month (less than 2% of UCSD students are black).  People are shocked and horrified, and rightly so, though it’s just one in what seems to be a constant stream of such parties.  Becca C. asked us to post about it.

Its Facebook page shown below (which, interestingly, is part of what made the party visible enough to protest) explicitly describes how people are to dress and act (trigger warning; it’s quite upsetting):

February marks a very important month in American society. No, i’m not referring to Valentines day or Presidents day. I’m talking about Black History month. As a time to celebrate and in hopes of showing respect, the Regents community cordially invites you to its very first Compton Cookout.

For guys: I expect all males to be rockin Jersey’s, stuntin’ up in ya White T (XXXL smallest size acceptable), anything FUBU, Ecko, Rockawear, High/low top Jordans or Dunks, Chains, Jorts, stunner shades, 59 50 hats, Tats, etc.

For girls: For those of you who are unfamiliar with ghetto chicks-Ghetto chicks usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes – they consider Baby Phat to be high class and expensive couture. They also have short, nappy hair, and usually wear cheap weave, usually in bad colors, such as purple or bright red. They look and act similar to Shenaynay, and speak very loudly, while rolling their neck, and waving their finger in your face. Ghetto chicks have a very limited vocabulary, and attempt to make up for it, by forming new words, such as “constipulated”, or simply cursing persistently, or using other types of vulgarities, and making noises, such as “hmmg!”, or smacking their lips, and making other angry noises, grunts, and faces. The objective is for all you lovely ladies to look, act, and essentially take on these “respectable” qualities throughout the day (transcription borrowed from Threadbared).

The page:

When the first Facebook page was taken down, a student put up a second page in objection (Compton Cookout Part Deux: First Amendment Pride):

A diverse group of students, with the support of many faculty, protested the administration’s slow response to the event (chronicled at Stop Racism UCSD).

But the vocal resistance to the overt prejudice and hateful stereotyping created a counter-resistance.  A student-run TV station defended the party with racial epithets and, then, a student hung a noose in the library:

This is sociologically interesting because it illustrates the backlash phenomenon.  Backlash is a common response to any effort to point out or undermine prejudice, discrimination, and inequality.  We’ve posted about it in response to racist products (Mr. Wasabi, the Black “Lil’ Monkey” doll, and the Obama sock monkey) as well as anti-rape campaigns.  As I wrote in a previous post:

…resistance to oppression is met with counter-resistance.  Until inequality is challenged, things often seem to be just fine; when groups stand up and demand equality, we suddenly see how fiercely people will defend their privilege.

Remember, the Klu Klux Klan emerged only after slaves had been emancipated; whites didn’t need to put black people in their place when they were in their place.  Those who are protesting the Compton Cookout, by not standing by and letting the (largely white) administration address (or fail to address) the party as it pleases, are refusing to stay in their place.  The backlash is proof that they are actually perceived to be a threat.

(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)

In 1934 the MPAA voluntarily passed the Motion Picture Production Code, more generally known as the Hays Code, largely to avoid governmental regulation. The code prohibited certain plotlines and imagery from films and in publicity materials produced by the MPAA. Among others, there was to be no cleavage, no lace underthings, no drugs or drinking, no corpses, and no one shown getting away with a crime.

Larry of The Daily Mirror sent me an L.A. Times article from October 28, 1979. It was written by Teet Carl, who describes his experiences trying to stay within the boundaries the Hays Code allowed and some of the ridiculous problems he encountered.

According to Teet, A.L. Shafer, the head of photography at Columbia, took a photo that intentionally incorporated all of the 10 banned items into one image. Here’s the image and the top 10 no-nos:

The photograph was clandestinely passed around among photographers and publicists in Hollywood as a method of symbolic protest to the Hays Code.

While the Hays Code is no longer in effect, the movie This Film Is Not Yet Rated makes it clear that the MPAA still functionally censors certain content by requiring directors to take out certain types of content to get a PG-13 rating, including allowing more female nudity than male nudity and rating scenes of gay sex more harshly than heterosexual sex. Clearly we’re in no way whatsoever still living under a version of the Hays Code, but the MPAA hasn’t given up its prerogative to define what is inappropriate, often based in sexism and homophobia.

(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)

While in “Around the Way Girl,” the woman’s erotic power manifests in all facets of her identity, in Nicki Minaj’s remix, “Who’s Ya Best M.C.?” this erotic power is restricted to the realm of sex and sexuality. Like Marilyn Monroe… They say I’m too pretty to be spitting 16 I should be on the screen posing for Maybelline… Hood [...]

“Girl from around way without the L Cool J” -Nicki Minaj, “Who’s Ya Best M.C.?,” from Suckafree As the female protégé of a misogynistic rapper, the female version of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj undoubtedly conforms to certain dichotomized gendered norms. She at times operates in sync with dominant (patriarchal) discourse while at other times resists against the [...]

In as much as Hip Hop as a culture and rap as a musical genre are highly misogynistic, the term “Hip Hop Feminism” may seem more a paradox than anything else. In his article “Re: Definitions: The Name and Game of Hip Hop Feminism,” Hip Hop feminist Michael Jeffries begins his attempt to conceptualize a [...]

Hip hop, you da love of my life. If talking about loves and hip hop was my primary partner, (un)fortunately, it has all the complexity that a human being has as a primary partner. This is especially true for someone like me, who is a self-defined hip hop feminist. Despite aspirations and claims otherwise, hip hop started [...]

When it was first conceived, hip-hop was a form of resistance by people of color to their oppression: not only a way of life, but also a route to social change.  Yet artists who continue this tradition of challenging the intersections of the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy are a minority in the U.S. today, [...]

In Mali, they graffiti “50 Cent” on red-brown walls of concrete and tan-yellow huts of mud.  Children battle dance in court yards between water wells and wire-woven chairs, popping and locking, and walking in circles on their hands.  Markets sell t-shirts and pants with emblazoned faces of Biggie and ‘Pac.  Many Malians listen to American [...]

Welcome to the Gender Across Borders series on hip hop, resistance, and feminism. This series focuses on hip hop and its interactions with patriarchy, racism, and other forms of oppression — both within and outside the mainstream pop world. From Nicki Minaj and gender-bending to resistance movements in Mali, this series reveals the varying faces [...]