6/1/17 Journal 16 Love and Honour

Lina Osofsky

913603947

6/1/17

Love and Honour

This story is about a boy who has writers block. He decides to then write about his childhood and his father -- specifically how he was abused by his father. The relationship between him and his parents seems really awkward and forced, but also honest. I found it interesting that the mother never leaves a fight without giving her son a kiss to end it on a good note. His family is Vietnamese and he looks towards a Chinese author for inspiration. The author tends to use very descriptive language for his memories. It is interesting because I feel like the actual story is within the story of the author trying to describe how he had writers block.

"Shopping for Pleasure" by Jordan Fiske

Jordan Fiske analogizes consumerism to religion by saying that "Shopping malls are cathedrals...commodities become the icons of worship...". Capitalism holds a power over people that cannot be easily rebelled against. People are constantly drowning in advertisements, and the pressure to "...'buy' the truth on offer".
Particularly for women, keeping up with the latest fashion trends and beauty essentials has led to a feminization of shopping culture. Historically, women have been subjugated to their expected roles of domestic servitude to their families, and shopping has served as advertised form of "freedom" for women. I find this very ironic considering the fact that spending money on commodities owned by corporations that often still uphold patriarchal values despite designing their advertisements as  'feminist' and 'pro-women'.  Advertisements often claim to celebrate women of all body types, ethnicities, and color, but brands like Victoria's Secret almost exclusively showcase traditionally sexy and thin women.

Since malls are promoted as public spaces instead of the corporate properties that they actually are, many activists and organizers disrupt these spaces in order to show their resistance and spread awareness of these shops' (hidden) misdeeds. For example, we were shown in lecture a video of a group of organizers displaying their disapproval of illegal settlements on Palestinian lands by protesting and putting up a wedding-themed play.
This is a very effective form of activism that directly places issues in front of people who try very hard to remain clueless of others' plights. It uses art to further mobilize people into not remaining passive. Additionally, it directly disrupts the distorted reality of store-settings.

However, I do believe that it takes a certain kind of white privilege to be able to pull these kinds of activism off without being harmed by police/other security personnel.

Fiske and Jordan

In Shopping For Pleasure, Fiske argues that the mall grants women a space to challenge restrictions that they face in their households, where they mostly engage in reproductive work in a private sphere. When I was reading through this article, I learned a new lens of viewing shopping as an outlet for women yet a part of me questioned the extent to which it holds true. I began to question whether the findings of these women also apply to those who shop in alternative, public spaces. In addition, as argued, I knew that their consumer activity may merely reinforce capitalism in a highly materialistic society. Furthermore, some popular places that women shop in (e.g., Forever 21, high-end retail stores) sell merchandise at the expense of other women in sweatshops. Alternatively, they may buy these options to signal status rather than feel empowered

The Art of Necessity challenges the dichotomy and separation of art and politics, indicating that some activists utilize art forms to resist, empower others, and bring communities together. Similarly, I find that art can be a medium of expression that has the power to inform others and elicit responses from people who are not typically interested in activism. It ultimately is a liberating experience for both the creators and viewers of the artwork.

Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice by Nam Le

Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice by Nam Le 
June 1st, 2017
Brandy Zeng 

In this short story, the author describes his relationship with his dad, and how he was abused as a child. He is a currently a writer in Iowa, after quitting his job as a lawyer.  As a child, his dad was really strict with him, and one time when his dad was drunk with friends, he heard him talking about how he was in a massacre as a child and his family was shot by American soldiers. Later he had to fight in the war on their side. He is encountering writer's block, so he thinks it is a great idea to write about his dad's past. However, it happens that his dad is visiting at this time and he reads his story. So the author and his dad talk about his dad's experiences. But when he goes to bed, his dad takes his story that he has written and bring it to the river and burns it. He is really angry, but at the end he says  how he knew something later he didn't know then, and he wouldn't have been so mad if he had known earlier, but he does not disclose what this piece of information is. I think this story was really interesting, and I think the point is to show his relationship with his father over his lifetime. As a kid, he hated him for being so strict and abusive on him, but then he starts to pity his father. Now, he is angry again but later forgives his father again. 

Shopping for Pleasure and The Art of Necessity

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4 A04
30 May 2017

John Fiske's article "Shopping for Pleasure" discusses the institution of shopping malls and how they affect gender roles and agency. According to Fiske, shopping malls provide women with a public space that is specifically designed for them, which challenges the norm that women should be confined to private spaces, namely, the home. Although Fiske claims that mall slogans such as "A woman's place is in the mall" offer clever critiques to misogynistic slogans such as "A woman's place is in the kitchen," I disagree that such slogans are actually empowering. In fact, I would argue that they are just as restrictive and patriarchal since they are created by rich men dictating where women should confine themselves to.

John Jordan's "The Art of Necessity: The Subversive Imagination of Anti-Road Protest and Reclaim the Streets" discusses the effects of flash-mob protesting as opposed to traditional protesting methods. Such alternative methods add a fun, satirical element while still being able to address important issues and get the attention of random individuals in a public space. Unlike typical protests with signs and angry chanting, these types of protests exhibit communal practices and create a more welcoming environment. These protests are interesting in that they stand apart from traditional protest formats, but I worry that their tone takes away from the seriousness of the issues being discussed. If the tone is spun the wrong way, I feel like the surrounding audience may miss the main message or disregard it completely, instead focusing on the performance aspect.

5/30/17 Journal 15: Fisk, shopping for pleasure

Lina Osofsky

913603947

5/30/17

Fisk, Shopping for pleasure

Shopping is sometimes compared to religion. Fisk says that it’s a kind of common sense that shopping malls are the cathedrals of consumption. This metaphor breaks down because there are important differences between religion and consumers. On p.269 Fisk describes how consumers use more common sense than religious people.

Fisk also touches on the femininity and gender roles of shopping -- that shopping is generally targeted towards women. He also says that women can challenge the demands of the world. In a mall women feel free to relax and do what they want. However, their freedom is only within spending, which isn’t actually free, it’s just an escape for women. By going to the mall, these women are supporting these gender norms that men have actually created for them. To counter this, some women are using their husband's money to shop. By using the man’s money to buy for her own pleasure, she is in control and asserts her dominance by doing this.

5/25/17 Journal 14: Merchants of Cool

Lina Osofsky

913603947

5/25/17

Merchants of Cool

This documentary is about analysts who study the “coolness” of teens. More specifically, who is considered cool, so they know who to sell their new products to. As a teen myself I understand their initial thought process. By targeting the cool kids, they can implement their new products into their environment. The cool kids are the kids who start all the trends in schools.

However, growing up in Palo Alto, I’ve learned that their isn’t such thing as “Cool” -- at least where I come from. Basically to be well known in my hometown, you just need to be a good person, or really smart, or both. This is why I always felt so included and safe in high school. I also felt free to wear whatever I wanted. But I do admit that there was a certain style that started to develope. It’s basically comfortable, stretchy, and anti-sweatshop clothing and shoes. I even worked at lululemon (I still do) which is the number one brand that all females wear in Palo Alto. My point about this change in “cool” is that these analysts will need to keep adapting their definition of cool depending on what year it is and where they are in the world. Secondly, the way that trends start now are no longer because of what some “cool” kid did at school. Trends now start and are spread online. More than half of all the funny sayings that I have said within the last year have come from vine.

Analysis of shopping for pleasure and the art of necessity...

Leilani Adame
913930034

Shopping for Pleasure- John Fiske

This article exams how women are given power in stores through shopping. Fiske recognizes this power given to women through shopping is an act of cultural resistance. Due to our patriarchal society women are not given equal power compared to men, but when it comes to shopping they "take" power unknowingly. The author makes a key point that hegemony can "never finally relax in victory" dues to resistances. When women are out shopping they are resisting patriarchy and fighting against the notion that women stay at home, cook, clean, and take cares of the children. Producers have even taken notice to this power than women receive from shopping and capitalize off of it. For example, the price is right extorts women's knowledge of shopping and valued items for entertainment.


The Art of Necessity: The subversive imagination of anti-road protest and reclaim the streets- John Jordan

Jordan discusses the theory that "DIY protests" are powerful because they embody and are reliant on creativity based on socially transformative power. When polices and petitions are brought down the fact that their is a creative stand point allows for new political ideologies to be created. When new creative politics are created it may be seen as an act of cultural resistance, straying from he typical right or left wing ideologies.

Jordan and Fiske/ merchants of cool

the readings and the documentary are about consumerism. the documentary is about the teenage population of consumers. the reading by Fiske is about the consumerism through the women population. In both it shows how shopping centers are catered to the two populations. in the reading, the shopping area was originally a place that women could go without the company of men. it can be considered an act of cultural resistance due to the fact that the shopping center can be considered out of the the patriarchy, since men do not go to the shopping center and was only for women normally. it is a place that can make people happy or at least a short happiness that can distract people from the struggles that they have in life. it is a distraction from everything normally, which can contradict the cultural resistance because it is distracting women from the things that happen in their lives. although it could be a way for women to meet up and discuss how they are being treated and issues in society without the men in their lives watching over them. now in days, shopping is a fun thing to do and a distraction from the issues of everyday lives. personally shopping is fun and can be interesting. its a completely different culture and was a culture developed around women at first. that is why there is a expectation for women to love shopping and a stigma if guys like shopping. the industry also warps the body image that women have and the standards of beauty which is to be light skinned or nicely tanned, and to be skinny but have breasts and a big butt, which for a majority of women is impossible to achieve.

Fiske and Jordan

Andrew Vo

913132984

Just as we associate masculinity with men, we associate femininity with women. For men, there are

certain traits and activities that defines them to be men and for women we have certain traits and

activities that define them as women. One of the main thing is shopping and malls. We have an

ideology that women simply spend money and buy both unnecessary products as well as necessary.

Females have fallen under the gender specific role as housewives and shoppers. Because they fall

under such a perspective, capitalist and marketers have chosen to target the female population in

order to increase sales. We think that all women go out on a shopping flurry and spends money

carelessly, but I have many friends who tell me that most of the time they do not buy anything when

they do go shopping when I criticize why they shop so much. That they go shopping to just to

browse as a hobby because it can also be consider a stress reliever and that it makes them happy.

This article definitely relates to the article about cars and how it defines masculinity with men.

Fiske and Jordan

Both articles talk about subordination and the hierarchy in the social system. In particular, one point that was made in one of the articles was how a lot of commercials were directed towards the consumers, the women. This was because men most likely had a higher paying wage and were the breadwinner of the family. And, women were the ones who spent the money to provide for the family. On a related yet unrelated note, why are items such as pens split between men and women? When the company released pens "for women," they were twice more expensive than the regular pen they sold on the daily. These pens "for women" function and look the same as the regular ones, except they were pink and purple - because apparently women can not use any color color besides pink and purple. Colors towards a certain gender and goods directed towards a certain gender is not an efficient way to advertise good. It is because genders are more than just prices and genders. Genders are more than just a role.

Fiske & Jordan

As a women I never really thought shopping to be a form of power and resistance. I do enjoy shopping it has become sort of therapeutic; sometimes I don’t even buy anything. Fiske looks at women consumerism in different forms. He talks about the show the Price is Right. Since women have the stereotype of being the homebody who takes care of family routine, they should be good in guessing the cost of items. When a women names the price of a household item, it is not as surprising if she gets it right. However, if a man guesses the household item correct it becomes more exciting.

The idea of mass women consumerism has created the split between femininity and masculinity. Men are seen as producers/earners who provide the funding for the family. Women are seen as consumers/spenders who buy everything necessary for the family using the money of their husbands; they also buy unnecessary items. This idea is constantly reinforce and has become apart of the culture. Women are known to be shoppers and men are just the ones carrying their purses and paying for everything. Although this is not true, it has been represented in popular culture through music videos, movies, shows, etc.

Jordan introduces the activism group called Reclaim The Streets (RTS). Who were responsible for a street party aimed at showing businesses and political flaws. I have heard of this group before and they are performance activist who thoroughly think about their strategy and make it attractive for the public to observe.

Merchants of Cool

Commercials and advertisement banners help "merchants of the cool." The ads we see on television and in real life goes hand in hand with materialism and consumerism. This is a good or  a bad thing. Depending on the messages in the ads,  people can either have a more positive or negative outlook of the world. Messages are often directed towards adolescents and peers because they are the easiest to influence. Based on my personal experience, I have once bought candies and shoes based on the ads shown on television and in person. I wanted to be the cool kid on the block - having the right goods and produce that makes me "cool." But, where is this money coming from? Kids usually don't have an income to invest in such good and often go to their parents for their supply of income to invest in the "cool" material. This add to an unhealthy behavior and it really isn't the best way to go for advertisements.

Shopping for Pleasure and The Art of Necessity

  The article "Shopping for Pleasure" discusses about the mentality of the feminist mind in shopping malls and how it only represents and targets certain class, ethnicity, and body type of people while neglecting and looking over the fact that other inviduals don't fit within the category or cannot afford such products. The reason why most of the malls fail to profit off their merchandise is due to the fact that they target particularly on middle and upper class women with an hourglass figure. This excludes the interests of men and often overlooks the lower class citizens who can't afford such products or the individuals who can't fit the advertised merchandise. This also disenfranchises and neglects the narratives of other women, as they are being underpaid and overworked in order to produce the products in the store. One way the issue could be addressed is to have stores that are not only inclusive in terms of target audience, but also have styles that are either androgynous or fits men as well. Unfortunately, we often see a one-sided narrative, where the only people who can afford and enjoy such products are middle to upper class individuals who can fit the figure of the model. This also hints towards the testament of one's ability to integrate into society's standards, as rather than accepting themselves for who they are and recognizing their own beauty, forces girls to criticize and shame themselves for being unable to fit the standards and going through extreme measures in order to feel accepted or to be what the marketers envision them to be. Exclusion of Asian Americans and misrepresentations of individuals have forced them to address and vocalize their stances on these issues.  "The Art of Necessity" discusses the significance of utilizing art as a medium to voice and address political issues in the streets that are often overlooked or misrepresented by the society. Athough the acts of defiance shows authorities the youth's willingness to express themselves and defy  authoritative figures who continue to oppress them, one must question who has the privaledge to participate in these acts and where and what the media wants to focus on. Before Asian Americans are able to stand in solidarity with their fellow peers in advocation of struggles, they also must face the challenge of being recognized as a Citizen, being integrated in society, and having the voice to speak up against causes without being overlooked or ignored by a system that has belittled and suppressed a group of people into ghettos for the past century.

Fiske and Jordan

Jimmy Hoang
913146051

The to articles relate in the fact that they both go against the cultural norm or hegemonic ideas. In Fiske's article, he talks about women and the shopping industry. Back in the days, women's ideas and opinions were looked at differently and as less important than a man's. As a result, marketers and such focus mainly on the wants and needs of men, caring little about what women need. In a resistance against that hegemonic idea, women were able to rise as consumers, forcing marketers to start looking towards their way and answering their desires. Similarly, in Jordan's article he talks about protests against cars. Cars are widely used everywhere being absolutely helpful with transportation and such, so we can agree that this is a hegemonic idea which cars are a must. However these protesters went against that idea, trying to free the roads and streets of cars. They did this because they believed that cars were damaging the environment. In both cases and situations, they are going against the cultural hegemony and ideas. We can even relate this back to Omar's lecture about ads, where companies had to find ways to advertise differently from the hegemonic idea of advertisement to be able to stand out and attract customers.

Shopping for Pleasure & “The Art of Necessity”

Chia-Hao Chang

999672426

ASA 004

Prof. Abdullah

29 May 2017

Shopping for Pleasure & “The Art of Necessity”

            In the article, “Shopping for Pleasure” by John Fiske, the author first introduces women are the main driving forces for the shopping mall and they receive enormous amount of pleasure by just shopping at the mall. The Malls are definitely the places for women to show their “power”. Many of them shop for leisure not necessarily buying them when they actually need the stuff they want. Also, in the article, the author suggests there’s an imbalance between genders in Mall culture indicating the Mall is very famine. In the article, “the Art of Necessity”, the author first saying the art has proven the social change and reflects many aspects of people’s cultures and lives. For instance, “the furniture was moved into the road” serves as an example of how people’s perspective of being neat and clean is a work of art, mentioning in the article. The road also symbolizes the art and politics, in which are maintained by the workers and create a social balance. Police also serves as a power on the road.

Laotian Daughters and Kelly loves Tony part 1

 The article Laotian Daughters discusses about the experiences that Mien girls face with their culture in an attempt to refine and create their own identity while escape from the constraints and expectations of both their American and Asian cultures. The Asian culture is strongly patriarchal and forces women to take the supportive role for the man whereas the American culture is racist to a degree and refuses to acknowledge the Asian perspective and their significance and value in society. This is evident when the Mien women were mistakened for Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, and their correspondents continue to make this mistake in an attempt to refuse acknowledging their identity. At the same token, young Mien girls strain their communications with their parents, due to their conservative views with tradition and their unwillingness to listen to and accept their daughter's choices. With the constraints placed on these girls, I believe that it would be best for them to make their own choices and create their own community rather than absorbing the constraints placed on them to please both their Asian identity and their attempts to integrate into American society. This subservient method would strain the girls, as they would feel miserable attempting to please both sides. This problem is reflectional in Kelly loves Tony, when Kelly is forced to uphold Mien traditions by marrying a husband at a young age while attempting to pursue a higher education. Initially, she was happy for graduating high school and having her first son. However, after realizing that she needs to find a way to support herself and her child, she decides to attend college to pursue a higher education. Some of the obstacles placed on her is the responsibility of taking care of her child, obliging to her parents-in-law's traditions and chores, and worry about her boyfriend's commitments and responsibilities. In a more realistic sense, doing chores is a routine task that must be upheld in order to maintain organization and understanding of purpose. Yet, at the same time, it is irresponsible for Kelly's family to force her to live in a home that is completely foreign to her nor is she willing to accept. Had Tony taken the time to reflect on his life and contribute by helping out Kelly and understanding her reasons for pursuing an education, then Kelly wouldn't struggle facing and maintaining her responsibilities. Kelly is a reflection of one of the many women who struggle to accept and cope with her numerous obligations from different societal and cultural pressures.

Fiske and Jordan - 05/30/17

Fiske's article reminded me of Scott's "Weapons of the Weak". This realization occurred when Fiske mentioned that weak individuals make do with what they have in order to resist dominant norms. In Fiske's article, the tool wives use is the husband's money. Although I understand the power buying items confers onto women, i.e. by softening men through guilt when they are berated for spending and placing them in the right when the men realize that her purchase was necessary, I could not help but think this still places women in a subjugated position. This idea of using the husband's money implies that women cannot earn and are dependent on the husband for income. Additionally, consumerism as power becomes a problem because it feeds into capitalism, the same structure that holds the nuclear family as the functional unit in American society and places women in the role of homemaker and housewife, according to American culture, which decreases their overall freedom and power.

Jordan's article pointed out the importance of the short-lived carnivals. The ephemeral made the carnival events an all-or-nothing event that prompted people to act out in non-violent ways and to expose the cracks in authority. The spectacle that these carnivals produce makes delivering messages to the masses more palatable due to its fun. This is similar to the flash mobs in India to promote and destigmatize same-sex relationships. However, I feel like these random, ephemeral acts are susceptible to being co-opted by mainstream media. I've seen these kinds of revolutions prominent in film and television which diminishes the resistive power these events have. It becomes a classic case of yesterday's rebellion that becomes today's pop-culture.

Merchants of Cool and Omar's Lecture

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4 A04
25 May 2017

Merchants of Cool is a 2001 documentary about the methods in which corporations try to effectively market their items to teenagers. According to the film, teenagers are an especially important demographic for corporations as teenagers are the ones who establish what is trendy in the entertainment sector and even in lifestyle aspects such as diet and clothing. Teenagers seem to be the core of self-expression as they are in an experimental spot between childhood and adulthood. I found it interesting to see how "coolhunting" used to be carried out by corporate correspondents - via random surveys in real life, in real time - whereas now, action on the part of the corporation is hardly even needed. Through the rise of social media and the Internet in general, information about pop culture can be accessed without even being asked for. The information about new trends and fads comes at a rapid rate and voluntarily from teenagers around the globe.

I thought Omar's lecture on his field of study was actually really inspiring since he discussed taking something he enjoyed all his life - comedy - and creating research out of it. His presentation also went to show that Asian-American studies can be applied to all realms, from art to science to history. I was also able to connect to his discussion about anonymous everyday acts of cultural resistance, specifically via comedic outlets such as memes and Youtube videos. Social media allows for access to large volumes of comedy on a regular basis, and simple jokes can spark political or more abstract discussion about those in power.

Kelly Loves Tony pt. 2 and Asian American Auto/Biographies

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4 A04
23 May 2017

The second half of the film Kelly Loves Tony reveals a greater strain in the couple's relationship. Whereas at the beginning of the film, they were optimistic, madly in love, and excited to take care of a child together, here in the second half, we see a complete shift in their dynamic. Kelly is now pregnant again, but this time, she is not excited about the child at all and goes so far as to say she regrets getting pregnant a second time. In addition, she states that she and Tony are not talking as frequently and as comfortably as they used to. Kelly Loves Tony seems to be an especially intriguing narrative to college students like us who may also fear the responsibility of caring for a child or pleasing the family of a partner. Especially as Asian-Americans, there tends to be a pressure for women to be the primary caretakers of their children and respect and support the family of their partners.

"Asian American Auto/Biographies" by Robyn Rodriguez and Vernadette Gonzalez discusses the pros and cons of the rise of incorporation of Asian-Americans in car culture. Asian-Americans are on the rise in movies such as The Fast and the Furious, which seems to be a breakthrough as it offers an alternative to the usual Asian-American role of a martial artist or frail, but intelligent sidekick. In the Fast and the Furious franchise in particular, Asian-American men comprise a portion of the protagonists, as the main cast is culturally diverse. Racing is portrayed as highly masculine and respectable, which is beneficial for Asian-American men. However, this comes at the expense of Asian-American women, who are sexualized in car culture. The few Asian-American women who are depicted as racers in the movies are still objectified in the movie's dialogue. All other Asian-American women are just cast as groupies cheering from the sidelines. As a fan of the franchise myself, I personally found it empowering to see Asian-American female racers in some of the movies. The characters were young and attractive, but I thought it was empowering to see their characters dismissing comments from male characters and embracing their sexuality, a trait often discouraged in conservative Asian-American households.

Kelly Loves Tony pt. 1 and From Khush List to Gay Bombay

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4 A04
18 May 2017

The first half of the film Kelly Loves Tony follows a young couple from Richmond. Kelly gets pregnant right before her and her boyfriend Tony's high school graduation. Both Kelly and Tony are of Laotian descent, and Tony is an ex-gang member. Kelly's pregnancy leads to their parents arranging their marriage without her consent, perhaps to justify or destigmatize her pregnancy. In accordance with Laotian tradition, Kelly moves in with Tony's family and is expected to practice being a proper wife and daughter-in-law. The film focuses on several struggles between the couple, including Tony's risk for deportation due to past crime, Kelly's desire for higher education, and tension between Kelly and Tony's family. I found their struggles relevant to my own family's struggles in the Philippines; my cousin and his wife also conceived a child as teenagers and needed to deal with adapting to each other's families. In addition, I found it interesting that Tony and his family saw Kelly's desire to go to community college as an act of selfishness while Kelly viewed it as an act that would benefit Tony and their son Andrew in the long run. The first half of the film was very powerful in exhibiting Kelly's agency.

Roy Sandip's article "From Khush List to Gay Bombay: Virtual Webs of Real People" analyzes the rise of online queer communities and its positive and negative implications. Although online communities provide safe, anonymous spaces for queer folks around the world and can unify people across global borders, it does inspire harmful or hateful discourse due to the anonymity as well as limit the scope of such liberating movements to those who have Internet access. In other words, cyber communities exclude queer individuals of lower classes. The article touches on several other issues including pinkwashing, a phenomenon in which liberation for queers is used as an excuse for imperialism. I find pinkwashing to be a highly prevalent concept that bears resemblance to the speculation around George W. Bush's "war on terror" declaration, which was named a necessary fight against terrorism rather than an invasion of Middle Eastern land for resources to propel the self-interest of the U.S.

Omar's Lecture, Shopping For Pleasure, Anti Road

All three of these are heavily centered around resisting hegemony.  In Omar's lecture, he talked about advertising that satirizes itself to appeal to young people, as traditional marketing techniques did not work. It appeals to the youth who, deemed cool, resisted the status quo. However, as the mainstream takes over the cool subcultures, it no longer becomes cool and the youth moves on.

In Shopping For Pleasure, women uses capitalism to take agency of themselves. They resisted traditional hegemonic gender roles by becoming active consumers. Because the free market is run by consumer demand, women were able to force the market to cater to them, changing the meaning of shopping. It was a traditional masculine activity before, and it is now associated with women.

In Anti Road Protests, the protesters protested cars, a big part of American culture and hegemony. To imagine the US without cars is very difficult, as many facets of American society is built around cars and transportation. They were fighting for the environment, and being against cars in the US is radical counter hegemony.

On Orientalism and Laotian Daughters ch. 6

Danielle Marie Herrera
Prof. Maira
ASA 4 A04
16 May 2017

The film On Orientalism featured Edward Said providing an in-depth explanation of the term "Orientalism" and why it is important to the Asian-American community. According to Said, the term aims to answer the question of why there exists a preconceived notion of Asians in Western culture. The term "Orientalism" literally refers to the West orienting itself as being opposite to the East; therefore, when the West describes the "Orient" as barbaric, backwards, and simple, it implicitly defines itself as civilized, progressive, and complex. Orientalism still manifests itself today.

The sixth chapter of Shah's Laotian Daughters titled "Family, Culture, Gender" appears to be unclear on whether she is clearly critiquing or complicating the idea of Orientalism. In the chapter, she contrasts Laotian and American culture to challenge the stigma against teen pregnancy in Laotian women, since it is common tradition for teen Laotian women to become pregnant. However, in making such distinctions, Shah appears to be perpetuating a separation between Americans and Laotians and creates generalizations about authentic culture in each context. A phenomenon mentioned that I found particularly easy to relate to was code-switching, or a change in behavior based on context. I have definitely felt the need to code-switch based on whether I am around my conservative Asian family or liberal schoolmates and teachers; this code-switching could manifest itself through my clothing choice, language, or mannerisms. A mere change in the way I carry myself - a subdued head vs. a confident stance - can serve as examples of code-switching.

"Woman's Place" // "Reclaim the Streets" // Omar's Lecture

Melissa Chow
30^th May, 2017

              The first reading, “A Woman’s Place”, emphasizes sexism that is prevalent in our “consumer culture”. A lot of the slogans for these sexist phrases were both related to the women’s place in the house as well as the difference in work and leisure. Fiske points out that the mall was one of the only places women could stroll through unaccompanied in the past. Indeed, since women were expected to take care of the house and prepare meals, women had to go shopping for ingredients or other miscellaneous items for housework. Another thing was that working was considered a masculine activity while housework is more feminine. Again, this derives back from times where men were the sole breadwinners of the household. Therefore, Fiske brings back the main idea that in our society, women are considered consumers (purchasing goods for the household) and men are the producers (bringing back a paycheck). At the same time though, the fact that women are consumers makes it seem to them that they have power, the power to choose what to buy. I can see that point, but I kind of don’t know how to feel about it. I think both sexes should produce and consume. The “Reclaim the Streets” reading definitely reminded me of the BLM movement that is prevalent right now. I think that streets are where most people can actively see and think about these issues. Like the flash mobs in the street in Dubai. They were done in the middle of the day, in a busy area so that people would most likely see, and be forced to see and think about gay rights.

              I hadn’t really thought too much into advertising before Omar’s lecture. Now that I think about it, it really is important to think about the POV of the advertiser. I remember a couple of years ago there was a controversial Cheerio’s commercial where there were two fathers and their child. Controversial because many still believe being gay is a huge sin, but I don’t think we need to give those people attention. Anyways, while I think a lot of us would go, “Awww... sweet!” I am sure that was planned by General Mills and that General Mills is not really a human with real thoughts and emotions. Anyone can play into the themes pushed by advertisers, including Asian Americans. If we just sit idly by and consume the messages I think it would be really easy to be sucked in and become one of society’s drones that don’t really form their own opinions. I think this was a theme pushed by one of the first readings in the class, “Popular Culture”.

Blog: Omar's Lecture, "Shopping for Pleasure" by John Fiske, and "The Subversive Imagination of Anti-Road Protest and Reclaim the Streets" by John Jordan

Nouriyah Saleh
May 29, 2017

Blog Response: Omar's Lecture, "Shopping for Pleasure", and "The Subversive Imagination of Anti-Road Protest and Reclaim the Streets"

One part of Omar's lecture that I found interesting was the tactic of decoy. 'Decoy' was defined as "strategic method of jokes that challenge systems of oppression". The whole time, I was thinking of Russell Peters, a world-renown Indian-Canadian who bases his jokes on racist stereotypes. He doesn't necessarily challenge the stereotypes, but over-exaggerates them with personal stories. This ties into how Omar mentioned that jokes don't have to be neither hegemonic or counterhegemonic. 

In Shopping for Pleasure, John Fiske talks about how malls are sites of power for women, in that purchasing commodities empowers them and gives them a role outside of being at home and doing chores. The mall is one of the few places that is acceptable for women to go to by themselves and blurs the line between private and public life. I thought it was interesting how Fiske used religion as a metaphor for consumerism - malls are cathedrals and commodities are icons of worship. However, I thought the idea of the article was a little odd to me. It made sense, but I felt like it was confining women's powers to just shopping. The reading isn't as relevant as to today's, where women are gaining and fighting for more power at home, in the workplace, and other public areas.

Reclaim the Streets was a movement that took over major London roads and turned them into huge festivals. The purpose was to take "back those things which have been enclosed within capitalist circulation and returning them to collective use as a commons". The more festivals that came around, the harder it became for organizers to avoid surveillance from the police. Although, they managed to pull through every time. I think this form of protest was a very powerful and creative one - it caught the attention and participation of thousands of people and used art and music instead of regular protesting. However, the reading never mentioned the response from the public about what they thought of the movement. It makes me wonder how effective Reclaim the Streets was in getting their message across. For all we know, the people who participated in the festivals probably joined just for fun and didn't know the meaning behind it.

Gendered Limits and Kelly Loves Tony:

Gendered Limits discusses the issues of Asian mistreatment in South Asia for being a part of the LGBTQIA community and their inability to be recognized in either Asia or America. Some of the issues that some people face are the inability to be recognized and accepted into either communities. In response to this, they have resorted to the internet to meet up and feel accepted by the people around them, since they are unable to integrate into either the Asian or the American mainstream culture. One of the benefits of this is that they get to meet and interact with like-minded people and feel accepted for who they are. This is especially integral since their community or society has not allowed gays or any of the members of the LGBTQIA community to open up within their society. Due to a heterogenic archetype of how society is run, certain individuals have a fear of opening up or expressing themselves to their parents or society in the fear of being judged and persecuted. However, it is also important to realize that the internet is also a bit conflicting, as the people in time will have to open up and stand up for themselves and work to be recognized or face the adversity of their government with the help of foreign powers. Unfortunately, similar to women's rights, LGBTQIA rights haven't been universally recognized and fair to all of its members of other races, class, or other backgrounds. Kelly Loves Tory discusses about the conflicts of Minh families who live in poverty and the struggles of being a parent while pursuing a career. When Kelly graduated from high school and had a baby with Tony, she has struggled to maintain her happiness and life due to her inability to integrate to Tony's family and juggle with school. This comes with the conflict of culture and the ability to maintain one's self, as Kelly is trying her best to raise her child, deal with Tony's family's chores, and juggle school whereas Tony hasn't contributed as much as her due to his laidback nature. This is also noticed by Tony's parents, as they point out that Tony hasn't been contributing as much to the family as Kelly has and foresaw the disaster within this coupling due to unequal amounts of work commitment. Kelly's life struggles is similar to the struggles of the LGBTQIA Asians, as they are neglected by both America and Asia and are forced to create and redefine their own identity and position in life to survive. Hopefully, if they are able to find the right people to support them, both the LGBTQIA asians and Kelly would be able to resolve their issues as they must realize that they are not alone and that people aren't as ignorant and blind to situations as is often misinterpretted.

Asian American Auto/Biographies

   Asian American Auto/Biographies discusses about the car culture amongst Asian American men and politics behind the rise of the Asian imported car industry. The author argues that import cars cause harm to Asian men, as Asian cars have masculated Asian men and causes them to be more arrogant and buy into the American dream. However, I personally disagree with the approach and narrative behind the author's claim. I believe that the Asian American import car culture is more sophisticated than what the author is presenting or have actually analyzed. In a more broad scope and point of view, Asian export cars and cars in general is a form of art, where Asian Americans (regardless of men or women) have the ability to customize their cars, the dedication to understand and improve the functions of the car, and the freedom to express their styles and remain hidden from popular media. Rather, I feel that people have a negative connotation for these Asian American drivers due to America's stigmatism against Asian men and the history of the media upholding the myth that Asian's are wreckless drivers. In the broader scope, America has been a system that prevented Asians from being able to integrate into their society. Rather than integrating, Asians have developed numerous sub-cultures and ways to entertain themselves without forcing or having to prove their validity of integrating into America's pop culture. Forms of entertainment such as MMORPG's, anime and manga, mahjong, martial arts, tapioca joints, karaoke bars, Asian cars customizing and drag racing, and Asian restaurants are proof of how Asian Americans have been able to create their own forms of entertainment without internalizing the struggles or dealing with the negative stereotypes placed on them by American society. Because Asian men had to deal with a century of emasulation and negative stereotypes, many of them have preferred to invent their own forms of entertainment and notions of fun rather than to challenge a system that would not recognize their significance, existence, or relevancy in American culture. Asian export cars have also benefitted the Asian American community since it has invented and brought in more talents and specialists in terms of understanding and fixing cars.

Merchants of Cool

   "Merchants of Cool" is a documentary that describtes the business approach of finding cool and attempting to exploit the term "cool" and "hip" in order for it to sell to the teenage consumers. However, this is a disgusting approach to achieve success, as it not only belittles and overgeneralizes the generation of teenagers and their desires, bit also distorts the perception of the adolescent mind. Rather than being a contributive figure to teenagers, it invokes more stereotypes to perpetuate amongst society and their consumeristic addictions. I find the notion of "cool hunting" as more of a destructive tool for marketing, since it only looks at the aspect of what kids find interesting rather than what is the representation and significance behind the style. For example, if a teenager happens to wear a hijab and the marketer believes that to be a fashion trend amongst kids, they will attempt to exploit the product and when it doesn't become popular or cool amongst the consumer anymore, they will cast it away and move on. The problem with this approach is that it neglects the cultural practices and significance of the style or the tradition. Another problem with this approach of "cool hunting" is that the only consumers who have the privaledge to afford these products (in particular, upper and middle class white people and other people who have integrated into their culture). This assumption that upper and middle class teens neglects the narrative of other indididuals such as lower class people and other minorities. It also belittles the other struggles and adversaries that people have to face and deal with on a daily basis. Although MTV has changed to address real life issues and struggles of society (such as Decoded), its past repuatation of "cool hunting" and "overcomercialization" for the teens still placese the coorporation in a negative light. This struggle relates to Asian American experience because Asian Americans have not really been given the opportunity to express themselves and their interests. Their voices have most of the time been overshadowed my racist charicatures such as the kung-fu master, the chef, the nerd, and the foreigner. Recently, Fox network has publicly televised a skit where Jesse Watters went to Chinatown and interviewed Chinese people in order to understand how China reacts to the 2016 election. These interviews, as well as other stunts targetting and replacing the Asian American identity, has recieved numerous backlashes in the community due to its misrepresentation of the Asian American identity, the belittlement of the Asian American accomplishment, and the ignorance and unwillingness to accept the Asian American narrative or experience. This is also the reason why there are numerous backlashes and hesitation behind Holywood exploiting and making adaptations to Anime and Manga.

Merchants of Cool

The symbiotic relationship that teens have with corporations was an interesting viewpoint that I have not taken into consideration. Companies interview teens on what is "cool" while they profit from the teens. On the other hand, teenagers get a sense of identity and belonging when they participate in popular culture. This material benefit that companies gain while the intangible emotional gains that teens get is interesting because it clearly represents what is important for both demographics. Teenagers want to "fit in" while companies are all about making a quick buck. The way that companies do this, through being "authentic" and "anti-marketing", is prevalent in today's media as well. The only difference is that it is more absurd and promotes a non-sequitor kind of comedy. The Grant Hill and Lebron James Sprite commercials do the same thing in that they're "anti-marketing". However, Lebron's commercial does random comedy via jump cuts and absurd jokes, such as Lil Yachty in an ice cavern playing the piano. I thought that this just highlights the changing humor of the generations while still maintaining the "anti-marketing" marketing strategy that youth culture love and take for granted.

Rodriguez and Kelley Loves Tony

Rodriguez's article points the failings of producing Asian American masculinity. Although acquiring an import car and modifying it represents a transnational identity different from typical American car models, the act of buying and owning a car reinforces capitalism and the agency and individuality which feed into the "American Dream". More importantly, the hypermasculinity of Asian American men requires the hypersexuality of Asian American women. This becomes a problem because it does not solve the problem of the Orientalist view Asian American women have been noted for and reinforces it instead. Although the car culture is beneficial in re-affirming Asian American masculinity, it does so at the cost of buying into capitalism and the hypersexuality of Asian women.

The one thing that struck me while watching this part of Kelley Loves Tony was the criticism Tony had on Kelly's notions of being a "good Mien wife". By criticizing traditional notions of marriage and the woman's role, Tony is advocating for Kelly to be independent and detach herself from traditions. However, it seems to me that Tony is also contradictory. Although he wants Kelly to be detached from tradition, he is still annoyed at her being so studious. According to the film, a college education is the only way that Kelly can eventually gain some sort of agency but by Tony's annoyance and reluctance in acknowledging the importance of Kelly's education, he is reinforcing traditional gender roles.

Merchants of Cool & Omar's Lecture 5/25/17

This documentary explores how marketers research the trends and current 'pulse' of the youth to effectively market towards their demographic. Some interesting notions I took from the documentary were that as soon as these 'cool' aspects of teen culture became coopted, they'd quickly fizzle out and lose their 'coolness', displaying the fact that teenagers are inherently cynical of and are resistant to corporations' attempts to capitalize off of their creations and culture.
In Omar's lecture/presentation today, he said that "Cool arises from notion of struggle." This particularly struck me because we often forget that teenagers usually use these forms of 'cool' culture to escape from the toxicities of their environments, whether it is dysfunctional families, stress from the pressure of academia, or their social relationships with others. Their trends are often a coping mechanism for their issues, and they don't those to be commodified to be resold and repackaged for profit.
Another aspect of Omar's lecture I found engrossing was his notion of 'decoy' in comedy to bring out and challenge hegemonies that aren't so often exposed and discussed. Anthony Leblanc's skit critiquing white liberals and their supposed 'progressiveness' while simultaneously speaking over Leblanc is an excellent depiction of how many white people still exhibit racist notions despite their apparent "wokeness". This was both hilarious and powerful at the same time.
It made me reflect on my own status as a non-black POC and how I often to be mindful not to speak over other marginalized folx but instead stand in solidarity.

Merchants of Cool

In Merchants of Cool, the examples gave evidence to Stuart Hall's definition of popular culture, which understands culture as a site of dialectical struggles over the meanings of culture. As explained by Hall, subcultures are constantly redefined and renegotiated by people/consumrs. This made me think of how people treat purse brands (e.g., Coach, Dooney and Bourke, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein) as time progresses. For instance, in my observations in the Filipino community, Coach branded purses used to be extremely popular until people started to favor Dooney and Bourke purses then Michael Kors. People gradually started to purchase the most expensive brands as they judged one brand more "high quality" over the other. The film specifically focuses on "youth culture" and looks at how items that are considered "cool/in-trend" only lasts for a certain time because large conglomerates and companies begin to shed light on the "new and cool" trends. It merely becomes a thing of the past until someone reintroduces the trend again. This relates to how underground music, not played on the radio, is considered "cool" until it becomes aired on the radio and eventually overplayed.