Fight Club and Gender Roles

Something that often seems to be portrayed in the media and accepted to be a societal norm is the idea that men are always more violent than women.  As a result, it is rare that women appear as the main character in violent movies and these roles are generally reserved for men.  This implies not only that men are inherently aggressive, but also that there is none of this aggression in women.  An example of a popular movie with these stereotypes is Fight Club.  While there are many other themes in this movie, one of the main ones is violence and the leader of the underground fight club is a male.   The choice of a male leader and predominantly male cast propagates the idea that men are more violent than women and fit these roles better.

Fight Club is a prime example of the types of movies released often in which violent characters are male.  Even on the short description found on IMDB, the fight clubs are said to be created as a place to "help vent male aggression".  Fight Club clearly characterizes the aggression and violence created as a male trait, as the network of fight clubs is filled with men.  One of the few female characters enters the plot not as someone who joins into the violence, but as a love interest.  This seems to be characteristic of many plot lines in other movies and as a stereotypical role for women.  When the story involves something such as violence, the female characters take a much more passive role while the male characters are the ones to display aggression.

The success of males in more aggressive roles is shown by the reluctance of movie studios to produce a superheroine movie.  They believe that this would not be successful after movies like Catwoman were not.  If women have taken on a role characterized by aggression or violence and the movie was successful, that was the exception not the norm.  In general, men occupy the roles that involve hostile behavior and this idea is not challenged.  Because it has become so  normal for men to be in movies where they are more violent, it is expected that the main character in these plots will be male.

Considering the popularity of Fight Club, viewers must accept the gender roles as believable or at least acceptable for society.  If people found this type of characterization too unrealistic, they would likely not enjoy the movie as much.  The success  of characters such as Tyler Durden in Fight Club seems to hint at the idea that society accepts men as more violent and that it is acceptable to portray males that way in popular media.  Furthermore, women seem to be resigned to the role of the love interest in the majority of these types of films, regardless of their success as more powerful and aggressive characters in other media such as comic books.

Photo and quote from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/

Female Soldiers in the Military: Do they belong?

A couple of weeks ago, when I was following the 2012 selection, Rick Santorum, a Republican candidate for president, said that having women close to the front lines may make men emotional is they see a woman in harm's way. He explicitly states that, "Men have emotions when they see a woman in harm's way,". One can read more about this statement here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099399/Rick-Santorum-claims-female-soldiers-line-compromise-missions.html

Now I am not one to assume that he was being sexist. Maybe this was just how he was conditioned to think. And in some one's mind, he has a legitimate argument. Women are just suppose to be stay-at-home mothers and not in harm's way.  Some women in the army feel that the Pentagon feels this way.  Shoshana Johnson, a former POW, says that the pentagon still doesn't allow women on the front lines. She says, "The typical reasons cited for maintaining the current military policy are rape, injury, and the most condescending, and quite frankly, insulting: a female’s ability to do the job." The statement can be found her: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/24/former-pow-shoshana-johnson-is-fed-up-with-the-military-s-stance-on-women-in-combat.html

I believe that this type of issue helps people understand why Superheroines were created in the first place. The reason: Women can be in harm's way and fend for themselves. Wonder Woman was saving the whole planet by herself. She's a testament to female excellency and a role model to young girls. No one questioned her ability to combat evil; why should anyone criticized female soldiers for doing the same thing?

Breaking Gender, not just Female, Stereotypes

For this post I wanted to look at the ideas of fighting gender standards in other, non-superhero, literature. In class we’ve discussed women gaining power to break stereotypes. I want to make the distinction of breaking gender stereotypes, not just female stereotypes. And to do that, I want to look at one of the best and well known series ever, Harry Potter.

Yes, there are strong female characters, but none truly break away from the social norms. Hermione is super smart, but a main issue for her at the end is how to express her feelings for Ron. Both McGonagall and Bellatrix are super witches but each is subordinate to a man, Dumbledore or Voldemort.

Instead, Rowling contrasts gender norms by placing “normal” feminine characteristics onto men. It is usually assumed that women are weaker, and fighting norms is showing weak women become strong. In Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom is the weakest, most helpless character in the beginning. He, a male, is showing the power to overcome weakness, making weakness a human not a feminine trait. In the final book/movie, Neville is quite badass.

Another female quality is being overly emotional. This is not Hermione’s or Ginny’s curse, but Harry’s. Harry is super angsty, irritated or otherwise moody a lot, especially in Order of the Phoenix. Ron later takes up this quality when hunting for Horcruxes. The Malfoy men, Draco and Lucius, end up as scared and weepy. It is not the women that run from the final fight, but the original powerful Malfoy men. Even the idea of love and affection being feminine is challenged. One of the strongest love stories ever, in my opinion, is Snape’s love for Lily. It rules his every action, yet he is not considered feminine.

This makes these traits of weakness, doubt, being ruled by emotions, or anything else human personality traits, not traits associated with gender. I think this should be a major goal of the social movement to fight gender norms. Don’t have genders fight against their normal traits, instead portray all traits as simply human, not tied to any sex. 

"Takin sips from the fountain of youth, if you ain't heard about the kid then you're out of the loop"

In honor of prelims this week, I feel like it is a good time for a post about a great song. I know a lot of people aren't big supporters of Mac Miller, but I have a personal favorite by him - Good Evening, which is off last year's mix tape, K.I.D.S. He starts this off with an excellent beat, which is actually sampled off Drake's A Night Off. The catchy background (a sped up version of Drake's bridge) is then thrown behind a great series of lyrics. The entire song is about how he is going to make it in the rap world, not by putting others down, but because he has "invested all [he's] got into these fucking raps." I think this is something different than the dis's and Braggadocio rhymes we are used to hearing. To me, it is a little more respectable. He says, "I don't even need to bring a single gun to war cuz I'm on that shit that they aint even done before," and "you can find me in the lab working over time," implying that he doesn't need to fight off others to be the best, but instead he is going to work hard at it to get to where he wants to be. He creates multiple witty references including Willie Parker, an NFL running back, to represent the idea that the money he has put into his career will ultimately come back to him (which it has, considering this song was written almost two years ago). He references Lewis and Clark when speaking of his travels, the fountain of youth when discussing how young he is for the rap game, the children's book and now movie, "Where the Wild Things Are," when discussing his weed trips. The song is filled with many other great lyrics, I posted the link below if anyone wants to check it out. It is one of my favorites. It is something a little bit different.

Mac Miller- Good Evening

Uncle Sam Goddamn Analysis Part II

So here's the second degree of inquiry for "Uncle Sam Goddamn"by Brother Ali. Feel free to comment and criticize below! And for those not in Contemporary Poetry and Hip Hop, here are the questions related to the second degree: What do the words denote? What do the words connote? What meanings come from the specific linguistic style of the author? Are there any moments of ambiguity or contradiction?

Smoke and mirrors, stripes and stars à first beat lands on nothing

Stolen for the cross in the name of God

Bloodshed, genocide, rape and fraud à first beat lands on nothing

Written to the pages of the law, good lord

Delving deeper, the words, specifically the nouns, denote and connote very different things in these four lines. This is the foundation for the deeper meaning that I explore in the other, more complex degrees. The words “smoke and mirrors” have a very similar denotation and connotation because the metaphor they represent is directly related to their function and qualities in the physical world. Smoke obscures, while mirrors reflect. Combine the two and you have a very confusing situation, and that’s the connotation. “Stripes and stars” is a little more complex but the phrase is well known in America so the connotation is very clear. The denotation refers to the physical shapes stripes and stars represent, but the fact that our flag is designed with them gives it much more meaning. Our flag represents the liberty, freedom, and justice we as Americans demand and take pride in, which makes this an especially powerful metaphor that plays an important role in the songs meaning. Furthermore, there are several references to higher powers such as “cross”, “God”, and “lord” in which the denotation and connotation are also similar (cross has a denotation to Christianity, the founding religion in America). The “pages of the law” denote and connote similar but subtly different concepts as well. The physical pages in the codes of law, that the United States adopted and continuously revises, is the denotation of the phrase, however, the connotation implies an inherent moral code that is based on the American values of freedom, liberty, and equality. One of the most essential characteristics in Uncle Sam Goddam is the use of parataxis and contradiction to compare totally unrelated ideas in an effort to make effective social commentary. The first contradiction he exposes is between American pride in liberty and freedom and a magic trick of lies and confusion. He uses “smoke and mirrors” to directly contradict the American ideal of “stripes and stars” in the opening sentence to this verse. It is a bold comparison to make and it identifies exactly where he is taking the song in the following five minutes. Furthermore, Ali continues by incorporating the line “stolen for the cross in the name of God”, a contradiction within itself due to the biblical laws that prohibit stealing in any form, especially stealing things for the God whose commandments you wish to uphold.  However, the most striking comparison is between the violent acts in the third line to the laws of our nation. Brother Ali expressly states that “bloodshed, genocide, rape and fraud” are written in our code of laws, which he uses to both shock and intrigue the reader. The law upholds virtues that guide citizens down peaceful, moral lives, while the violent acts, that Brother Ali says are written in law, do not support that moral code at all. Brother Ali incorporates extreme contradictions into this opening verse to catch the reader’s attention and lay the framework for the rest of the song. The contradictions bring up the theory that the heinous crimes we strive to expel from society are inherently ingrained in our culture. We’ve fostered great hate (he doesn’t say what kind of hate yet) and that has undermined any sense of liberty we pride ourselves on. 

Race and Hip-Hop

How much does race come into play in the world of hip-hop? The rap industry is a predominately black industry with a few other races mixed in. This begs the question, is there a reason rap is dominated by African-Americans?

Obviously rap's beginnings came from primarily African-American cultures, but that was nearly thirty years ago. A considerable amount of time has passed and it should not seem too ridiculous to think that the rap industry would contain a greater variety of ethnic backgrounds. So why is rap still so centered on the black community?

Comics and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A Wonder Woman costume worn by Lynda Carter in 1976.

Upon entering this class, I had a distant memory of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the summer of 2008 and seeing a certain exhibit, I was finally able to remember that exhibit and it relates entirely with the ongoing discussion of the superheroine costumes. The exhibit was entitled, "Supheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," and ran in the Met from May to September 2008. For those lucky enough to have been visiting the met during this time frame would remember countless full body costumes of all superheroes and superheroines a like. Not only costumes, but fan made t-shirts and comic inspired couture outfits created by high-end designers.  Throughout the exhibit there was more than 60 outfits on display, not only put in place but there were many fantastic backdrops and the exhibit area was designed much to resemble comic book places, such as Gotham City. I have learned to question the feminism behind many things after being in this course for only a mere few weeks, and I did question whethere this was sexist of the Met to put on a display of costumes. I would have to say it was not, for it did display both the female and male costumes and I feel that the Met merely saw this as a chance to do something different and bring in the artistic side behind these amazing people. The director and curator of this exhibit described it as, “a playful look at comic book costumes and their influence on radical haute couture as well as high-tech sportswear.”

            I did visit the Met and was able to see this exhibit, it did not dully stick with me since I had no clue what any of the comics were in the Summer of 2008, being a mere 14 years old at the time and not interested in the comics at all, but I do remember there being many amazing outfits on display, in particular there was the Wonder Woman costume from the television show and it was a great thing to be able to truly see the Wonder Woman’s costume up close. I look back and am happy for this experience for I never knew I would be able to relate to my education in the future. Quoting a New York Times article entitled, “Power Dressing,” "The ideas that dominate fashion--identity, performance, gender, body shapes, sexuality, logos, and the quest for the state-of-the-art materials--pretty well describe the world of the superhero". This one quote stuck with me after reading the article and I found it quite interesting the comparison of the characteristics of fashion and the characteristics of a superhero or superheroine. I have attached the article from The New York Times, it’s pretty interesting plus it has a very cool slideshow with some pieces of the exhibit as well as an interesting video in the article as well.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/arts/design/09cost.html