LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR, THE BLACK WOMAN ASKED, "MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO'S THE FINEST OF THEM ALL?" THE MIRROR SAYS, "SNOW WHITE, YOU BLACK BITCH, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!"
Fig. 3 Carrie Mae Weems, ‘Mirror/Mirror’
hooks' Eating the Other argues that that difference and imperial nostalgia of the White Western male (for the most part) for dominance over the Other is enacted through cultural appropriation. This idea entails that the White supremacist male has a desire and attraction towards what is considered exotic and different because it presents an opportunity to step out of conventional white mainstream culture. Like hooks says in the first paragraph of her article she states that "within commodity culture, ethnicity becomes spice, seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture."(21)More importantly, only white males are permitted to express this fascination. So bodies become a terrain of neo-imperialism we could say and white supremacists take from those bodies to claim that they are no longer racists, so the Other is commodified in other words. We are using the "Other" for our own redemption and benefit. She uses the idea of cultural commodities to demonstrate the importance of space and place in identity and cultural politics. This whole process is then amplified through media to the point that it becomes acceptable to buy into it.
I do not know if I was shocked by the ideas hooks presented because I was unaware of this phenomenon if you want to call it so, of if I had just never chosen to look at it that way. I would like to think that I was unaware of it but the fact that I am highly exposed to consumer media suggests that I chose not to see through it. It's interesting to think that although we are very aware of the existence of racism, our society still chooses to propagate in more "subtle" way through media ads and consumerism and this for its own benefit most of the time. One of the ideas that I recognized was when hooks writes about the American Dream and that "the acknowledge Other must assume recognizable forms."(26) It made me reflect on the fact that the Other's cultural identity is perhaps not their own but something that mainstream white culture has created. For example, let's think about the identities we associate with certain races and ethnicities: docility, oversexualised, violent, submissive, pure, evil. hooks criticised Torgovnick's work because of "her refusal to recognize how deeply the idea of the "primitive" is entrenched in the psyches of everyday people, shaping contemporary racist stereotypes, perpetuating racism."(32) One that that came to mind immediately was this idea that I had before I moved to a major city where cultural diversity was so prominent. It was the idea that I had to beware of Black men walking on the street late at night, to fear that they might attack or rape me. How did this idea became part of me? I knew and I know I am not a racist yet this idea was one that had been part of my upbringing and exposure to ads, movies and television shows. Is it possible to completely erase those ideas?
Another important point of interest that I could relate with was when hooks describes fashion catalogue ads that exoticise the Other. It reminded of a trend that has developped in the last few years. It seems going to Africa has become trendy within the dominant culture. Personnally, I have many friends who have partaken into this trend. Some for school purposes and work but many for the simple fact that it has become a hot spot for travels. Why is that? Is it because it's different, seen as exotic or because we want to have a bit of the Other as hooks says. Take people that go down south during the winter and come back with braided/beaded hair. I never understood that. Those people wouldn't normally do that to their hair here in Canada so is it that being in an "exotic" country that allows to express your desire or your "taste" for the Other?
Overall, hooks article advises us that acknowledging and exploring "racial diffrence can be pleasurable (and) represents a breaktrough and a challenge to white supremacy, to various systems of domination."(39) However, I think that we have a very long way to go. There needs to be a complete overhaul of consumer culture and an awareness of how we have created a neo-imperialist society in consuming the Other.
Soft-soaping empire: commodity racism and imperial advertising (Anne McClintock)The article was a good historical overview of how those who have been "othered" have been used as commodities during imperial times and have perpetuated what is going on today.
I was completely shocked at the nature of packaging and advertisements for the soap, how racist and obvious they were. It made me think of how powerful advertisement was and is even more so today in creating this idea of the other and how it encourages the furthering of racism and sexism.
Interesting also is the link that was made between racial commodities and domestic commodities. As the video "Advertising and the end of the world" portrayed advertising has colonised culture. Although today it might not look or seem as explicit as what the soap advertisement were racism and female objectification are still propagated through these means of communication. What they were doing during the 19th century was to colonise the other which were Blacks and women, today they are colonizing all members of society the same way, through fantasy which is what is desired at that moment in time. Through technology it has become easier to do.
This chapter argues that the market and information and communication media together hold powerful and privileged position in today’s culture, society and economy which I think has been facilitated by the wide array of technoology. Consumption is now recognised as defining characteristic of the lifestyle of the western world and as a result we could even say that consumer culture is now inside our identities.
The chapter is about historical and theory background to book. It begins with an overview of key moments in consumer media-culture history and then offers an outline of different ways in which social and cultural commentators have theorised consumer media culture. The purpose of the first part is to identify key changes over time in consumer media culture in the so-called developed countries of West.
They also speak of the strong tendency in consumer culture to erase history. I think that as a society we find it so easy to dismiss the pass, especially younger generations. They do not see the importance of holding on to the past, even the future seems too distant and irrelevant unless it has to do with tomorrow, a week or two from now. Consumerism and its products are changing so often that I think it becomes trivial to hold on to anything other than the present. The authors argue that consumer-media culture changes constantly and is becoming more complex to sustain itself and that we need to "make use of newer foundations and theories in order to actually understand the changes and complexities." ( )They identify three main points in literature on consumer culture:
1)production of consumption approach
2) the modes of consumption approach
3) apparoach that emphasizes the consumption of dreams, images and pleasures
I also appreciated their definition of the central features of consumer culture as "the availability of an extensive range of commodities, goods and experience which are to be consumed, maintained, planned and dreamt about by the general population."( )Just like the video Advertising and the End of the World explains, advertising portrays how people are dreaming, not acting. So what are we really doing? Are we wasting our time dreaming about what could be or of what would make us happy. It is interesting to think of how much time and money we are wasting away in being "consumed" by the desire to gain material goods that we think will make us better and creat a respectable identity within society. When I was watching the video, all I could think about was how much money we waste on making those advertisements and consuming as a result of those advertisements. While we are doing this, there are people that are living without any possession or living below the poverty mark. It's unbelievable to think that we choose to spend money on useless promotion.
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